Penelope Jackson: The Lightning Thief
by Misha Young
Summary: "My name is Penelope Jackson. But don't ever call me that; it's PJ." This is a retelling and reworking of The Lightning Thief, but from a femPercy, maleAnnebeth and a few other POV's to bring a little more to the story. Rights are Uncle Rick's, but I'm hoping to make the story into my own, (first 3-4 chapters are very similar to set up story, fyi). Image belongs to Burdge, I think.
1. I Penelope

_Hey there! So this is a retelling of Percy Jackson but with a female Percy and male Annabeth. I'm excited to share this with you all and see where it goes. Please keep in mind that the first three chapters will be pretty similar to the original to set up the story. I'm hoping to add in male Annabeth point of view chapters though to break up and diversify my story. _

_Please let me know what you think!_

* * *

 **1\. Penelope**

My name is Penelope Jackson.

But don't _ever_ call me that; it's PJ.

I've lived with the name for twelve years, but I still have a hard time accepting that my mom named me that. She said it was because she wanted me to be strong and cunning like the Queen of Ithaca in this old ancient Greek book written by some guy named Homer. But if you've actually read her part of the story, it sounds suspiciously like the poor woman had to resort to pranks just so she didn't have to remarry any of the disgusting men that tried to take her kingdom while her real husband was away.

Now let me warn you upfront; I'm _not_ the greatest kid in the world.

I mean, I really _try_ to be a good kid, but something always seems to go wrong. I don't really want to get into detail, but the school I went to last year blamed me for the gigantic amount of repairs that needed to be done to the swimming pool… Anyway, I think I've gotten kicked out of seven different schools now. It's kind of gotten ridiculous how many schools Mom has to call to get me into the next grade level each year. But this year had been different; this year I thought I was finally going to attend a second year at the same school.

Boy, was I wrong.

It all started as we were headed to downtown Manhattan on a big yellow school bus. I had been at Yancy Academy for almost a full year now with no major incidents. Yancy field trips were usually complete torture, but I was insanely excited for this one. We were going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see their Greek and Roman exhibits.

Oh, did I mention that I'm not the greatest student either? I'm totally ADD and hate reading because of my dyslexia, and nothing (not even medication) seemed to help. But when it comes to Greek Myths; I'm obsessed! I guess that's why I get a little annoyed by my name. Because if Mom really insisted on naming me after something Greek; there are SO many better options. Like Andromeda, I could totally have rocked the name 'Andi.' And her story is really cool too. I mean her parents were kind of morons for pissing off Poseidon, but she was rescued by the hero Perseus, fell completely head over heels in love, had some kids and lived a good life. Then to top it all off, when she died she got made into a constellation! Total happy ending.

Wait, what was I talking about?

Right! We're going to the MET. Mr. Brunner was one of the chaperones for the trip, so that was exciting too. He's probably one of the few teachers at my 'school for troubled kids' that doesn't actually treat the students like _troubled kids_. Mr. Brunner teaches Latin, which I almost failed. But he gave a lot of extra credit opportunities that I took advantage of and I somehow pulled a C to pass the class.

My friend Grover sat beside me on the bus. We weren't very close, but we were both outcasts in an already 'special' school, so we bonded. I think he had Muscular Dystrophy, or at least that was what my mom guessed when I described the guy to her. She told me to be nice and try to make a friend. I never really seem to make friends at any of my schools. Being the class jinx usually chases people away. But Grover was sweet, though he could be really awkward at times. That seemed to make him an easy target.

Right now, this horrible carrot top troll named Nancy Bobofit was throwing chunks of sandwich at the back of Grover's head. Now, Grover and I might not be best friends, but he's all I have so I'm kind of protective of him.

I went to stand up to go punch Nancy in her big nose, but Grover grabbed my arm and forced me back into the seat. "Chill out PJ. She's not worth it. You've been waiting for this trip all year."

I crossed my arms and pouted. Grover was right, but looking back now… I should have just punched Nancy in the face. It might have saved me from the stupidness that I somehow caused inside the MET.

* * *

Mr. Brunner acted like our personal tour guide around the exhibits. He rolled around to each item and gave a little speech about what it was, what it was for and how old it was.

Wait, did I tell you that Mr. Brunner was in a wheel chair? Yea, it's pretty nice too. It's one of those high-tech, motorized ones. Some of the kids call him Mr. Wheels behind his back, but when he hears it he never seems to care too much.

Well, our little tour was going great until Nancy decided that the Greeks and Romans weren't worth her time. She and her little clique of horrible evil Barbie dolls began mocking Mr. Brunner's questions. And of course, when I turned on them to try to shut them up, _I_ was the one who got into trouble.

Mrs. Dodds _hated_ me. Everyone knew that, but Nancy was really the only one to try to take advantage of it. She tattled on me to the math teacher at least once a week, if not more. Nancy was like Mrs. Dodds little spy or something. Mrs. Dodds glared at me the whole time we were walking to the next section of the exhibit.

Now Mrs. Dodds is horrible, and I'm not saying that just because I'm failing her class. I mean, math wasn't that terrible at my last school, but I had a nice normal teacher there. This crazy old lady thought she was some biker chick. She had a big leather jacket on at all times, and I swear she had one in every color you can think of. But instead of looking bad-ass, she just looked sad and kind of creepy. The worst part was, she smelled like mothballs and like something had crawled into her jacket and died.

Crap, I forgot to mention the incredible stele that we got to see. It was this giant piece of stone that someone had carved for a funeral marker… I think that's what Mr. Brunner said. It was so detailed; it must have taken the artist years to complete. The pictures on there were telling the story of Kronos, the king of the Titans. He was a really crappy Dad, even worse than my dad who just up and disappeared one day. Or even worse than Stink Gabe, my stepdad; Kronos was even worse than him! But I'll explain that more later.

Ok, so Kronos ate his immortal children because he didn't want to be overthrown by them; like he and his siblings had overthrown _their_ Dad. So Kronos' wife got pissed and hid away her youngest son, who tricked Kronos into eating some mustard mixture. Kronos then threw up all his kids and they killed him and took over. And all those kids Kronos threw up? They were the Greek Gods.

* * *

So lunch was pretty boring. Nancy and her demonic Barbie followers terrorized the rest of the class and of course I got blamed somehow when I tried to defend Grover.

I have no idea what happened. Grover and I were sitting on the edge of the fountain talking about the weird expression one of the statues had in the museum when Nancy the goblin strolled by and dumped her lunch all over Grover. I stood up, wanting to push her over; but before I could she was already on the ground.

I _swear_ I didn't touch her!

The bimbo clique started muttering about, me throwing water at Nancy or something. I was so angry I didn't really hear anything else. My temper flared and suddenly the spitting drizzle that had been lingering all day turned into buckets. Everyone screamed and ran to the museum for cover from the _pouring_ rain.

Mrs. Dodds appeared out of nowhere and grabbed my arm really hard as she dragged me back into the building. I looked back at Grover and found him shaking with fear, I think he had tried to tell Mrs. Dodds that it was him who pushed Nancy but my brain had gone fuzzy and I couldn't really remember what happened after I stopped listening to the Barbies' chatter.

"You have been causing quite a few problems, Penelope."

God, I hate when people call me that. I felt my whole body getting hot with rage as I internally screamed at my math teacher that ' _the name is PJ! I've been telling you that since the first day of classes!'_

"Ow, what the…" Mrs. Dodds immediately let go of my arm. She started wafting her hand like she had touched a burning stove or something.

We were in the back part of the Greek and Roman exhibit now and it was completely empty. I turned to face Mrs. Dobbs to tell her the regular line of _'I'm sorry… won't happen again… I'll see you for my detention tomorrow….'_ But my voice got caught in my throat when I looked at my math teacher.

She looked almost… _evil_. Mrs. Dobbs stood there glaring at me, making this horrible growling noise and she flexed her fingers like they were claws.

Alright, I admit it. I was totally scared out of my mind. What the heck was going on?!

"Where is it Penelope Jackson? If you tell me, I might be able to grant you leniency."

I stared at her blankly, not even noticing the use of my full name, "Um… I don't know what you're talking about."

"Tick tock, tick tock…"

"I… I don't know what you want… what are you looking for?" I was so nervous my knees are _literally_ knocking together. I back up a few paces to add some space between me and the demonic looking teacher.

A wicked smile ripped across her face, "Time's up little girl!"

Mrs. Dodds then turned into a gargoyle.

At least it looked like one to me. She was haggered looking, her skin sagged everywhere and her huge dragon wings almost knocked over the stele I had been gawking at earlier. Oh, and she had long sharp teeth like a vampire or something.

I didn't wait around to ask what she actually was… I ran.

But of course, with my bad luck, I didn't get very far. I almost flipped over Mr. Brunner as he rolled into the exhibit. The weird thing is, he didn't look surprised or even that scared.

Mr. Brunner looked pissed.

He gave me a weird look; like he was sizing me up. Then he did something really strange… He threw me a pen.

I stared at him in shock, but then had to dive head first into the floor to get away from the vampire dragon lady who used to be my math teacher. I could hear the back of my jacket rip as she tried to grab me with her long yellow talons.

"What the heck am I supposed to do with this Mr. B!" I screamed as I scurried across the smooth marble floor and ducked behind a headless statue of Aphrodite. I mentally thanked myself for wearing jeans and high-tops today; those made it much easier to slide along the floor than if I had worn my usual cargo shorts and flip-flops.

Mr. Brunner laughed. He _Laughed_. "Open it and find out, PJ."

I thought of a few choice curse words as I shook my head and popped the cap off of the BIC blue pen. But then it wasn't a pen anymore.

My brain went a bit fuzzy again as I stared at the bronze sword in my hand. It was the same one that Mr. B had used it in class sometimes as a prop. I always thought it was a fake sword, made of bronze plastic or foam maybe.

But it was _real_.

My small hand seemed to fit perfectly around the handle and the weight of the sword seemed to be gauged exactly for my petite frame. It felt _good_ in my hand; like in some weird way it was part of me.

Now, when I get lost in my head; sometimes a whole class period can pass by or sometimes it's just a few milliseconds. Thankfully, this time it was just three milliseconds.

The thing that used to be Mrs. Dodds took a running start and flew at me; her teeth bared, claws outstretched, and she was hissing like some kind of giant snake.

I was still terrified, but the sword gave me the little seed of courage that I needed to at least swing the bronze weapon across in front of me.

For once in my life, I was _lucky_.

The sword had swung just as Mrs. Dodds had come into range and apparently I had hit her. Now all that remained of the dragon, vampire, snake lady was her old musty biker jacket and a pile of gross yellow powder.

I looked around the exhibit hall; I was about to yell and scream and cry to Mr. Brunner until he told me what the heck had just happened… But he wasn't there.

I was all alone.

I looked down at my hand, but it was empty. No sword; no pen.

I thought I was going crazy, I mean something was seriously _wrong_ with me. I walked back out to the lobby of the museum expecting everyone to still be hiding out from the pouring rain, but the entrance was empty of students. There were just a few tourists buying tickets.

I walked out to the steps where we had eaten lunch and saw Grover sitting over by the fountain again finishing his lunch. I sat down next to him and looked around at the rest of the class. Everything seemed very normal. Most of the students were still finishing lunch as well, Mr. Brunner was parked at the end of the handicap ramp reading a book, and Nancy and her cronies were picking on another poor classmate of ours.

And everyone was _dry_.

"Hey Grover; how did you all dry off?"

Grover gave me a weird look, "What are you talking about?"

I looked up at the cloudy sky and saw a streak of lightning zap across it. I counted four seconds before the thunder followed. "Well, it was sprinkling before and then it just started pouring rain right before Mrs. Dodds dragged me into the museum."

Grover now looked worried for me, "Well first off; it hasn't rained yet, though I'm pretty sure the storm's on its way. And second who is Mrs. Dodds?"

I didn't know what to think; I was going psycho for sure. "But we all got caught in the downpour, everyone was _soaked_. And Mrs. Dodds has been our math teacher _all_ year."

"Um, well if we were all soaked through why are we all dry suddenly? You're dry too you know, so I think you're just imagining things. And Mrs. Kerr is our math teacher. Are you feeling ok, PJ?" Grover looked really scared now.

"No Grover, I don't feel ok at all."

* * *

 _So... Please Follow, Favorite and Review!_

 _All types of reviews welcome._

 _And just fyi, I'm hoping to update this story every Thursday._

 _Always,_

 _Misha_


	2. II Penelope

_Hey all!  
_

 _Just wanted to thank the people who followed and favorited and especially reviewed!_

 _Dogbiscuit : thank you so much for the constructive criticism and words of encouragement. I really appreciate you. Thanks for reading. =)_

 _Guest: I'm sorry the name isn't doing it for you. It was slim pickings with all my requirements (Greek, start with a 'P' and have a decent story). But I do feel like I addressed the issue with some humor; kind of made her self-aware, and even threw in an easter egg when she was talking about a name she would have rather had. I hope you can continue reading and see what other fun tidbits I have in store when addressing her name. ;)_

 _I will be updating this story every Thursday, just so you all know._

 _Hope you all enjoy!_

* * *

 **2. Penelope**

I hate my life.

School became even more unbearable after the Metropolitan Museum trip. I began to have more and more nightmares as the nights went on. All of my nightmares now stared the lovely Mrs. Dodds; or at least her gargoyle, dragon, vampire, snake version.

My teachers began to complain about my focus and attention, because it actually was worse than my usual ADHD issues. The Special Education teacher blamed my medication, the school psychologist blamed my daddy issues, and the nurse blamed my nonexistent allergies due to the wacky weather.

Oh geez… the _weather_.

It was absolutely unbelievable. One second it would be sunny with a nice breeze flowing by and the next second it was dark and a thunderstorm was threatening to uproot every trees in the courtyard of the school. And let's just say that the weather did _not_ improve my mood any.

I kind of felt like I was drifting through my days as an outside spectator; and it sucked. I went to my classes, didn't pay much attention, got yelled at by all the teachers and then _attempted_ to study and do my homework. Throw in some occasional sleep, showers and meals; then rinse and repeat.

Mr. Brunner was the only teacher to actually pull me aside and try to figure out what was wrong. But how could I tell him anything that was going through my head? He would probably have to report me to some professional place with padded rooms. So instead of telling the truth I said something about feeling sickly and not sleeping well. It wasn't completely a lie. But he shook his head sadly at me; I'm pretty sure Mr. Brunner knew I was leaving a few things out. Then he said something about making sure I pay attention to the stories because they could save my life one day.

Which stories? I have no idea…

I kind of lost all hope of staying at Yancy though and I didn't really absorb anything that was being taught to me anymore. I was _somehow_ still passing most of my classes with my regular C minus average, but who knew if that was going to survive finals week.

Unfortunately I sealed my fate two weeks before finals even happened.

It was pouring so badly outside that you couldn't see more than two feet in front of you. Grover and I were in the library trying to study for the tests when Nancy the troll stopped by our table with here little brainless brigade in tow. I tried to ignore her; I really did _try_ to listen to Grover when he told me to calm down and breath. But it didn't work. The words started to float around the page I was reading and then my anger just made my vision go blank.

I was so tired of listening to her pick on Grover and then have her staged audience giggle as if on cue. I just snapped. My face got hot, and I'm sure I was as red as a tomato. Then the heat spread down my neck and along both of my arms, like some weird power surge through my body.

The huge window behind our table shattered and threw glass shards and water all over Grover, me, Nancy and her peanut gallery.

We all came out of the event with cuts and scrapes, and we were completely soaked through. But Nancy had it the worst. I think she had a cut along every inch of skin that had been facing Grover and me. And her cronies of course fed the headmaster some twisted story about how _I_ had broken the giant window and funneled the glass to hit Nancy… Yea, I don't know either.

Even with Grover at my defense, the headmaster sent my mom the dreaded note stating that I would not be welcomed back next year for seventh grade.

* * *

I didn't think it was possible, but I became even more of a zombie as I went about my day to day life at Yancy. I counted down the days until I could go home and hug my mom and forget about all the stupid people at this school.

But I realized that I would miss a few people. I'd miss Grover next year, he was my only friend and the prospect of leaving him made me regret not getting to know him better. And Mr. Brunner; I would miss him so much next year. He was the only teacher that seemed to care about if I was ok or not.

The day before finals, I had studied as much as I possibly could. I was pretty sure nothing else would fit into my head. I paced my room. It wasn't late enough to go to sleep; I could still see light from the sunset. It had actually been a decent day today with no crazy thunderstorms, just a short downpour after lunch. But as I continued to gaze out of the window, the weather changed right before my eyes. Big black clouds rolled in blocking out any remaining light, and the thunder and lightning began to get closer.

And then the storm hit.

The rain battered the window of my tiny room as if boulders were being thrown against it. I turned on some music and covered my ears trying to block out the sound, but it didn't help. I started to get a headache and the pressure felt like it was going to kill me. So I decided to take a walk around the halls to try to get away.

What was I trying to get away from? No idea. Maybe the rain, my study material, the calendar on my wall with only one more 'x' mark needed… Maybe I was trying to get away from myself.

I wandered around the empty hallways aimlessly; I got lost in my head again, my brain going to that familiar fuzzy place. But then my mind was slammed back into focus when I suddenly heard my name.

"…I'm worried about PJ… can't be alone this summer… not safe for her."

I realized that I was a few doors down from Mr. Brunner's office. I sneaked a little closer. I probably shouldn't have. Mom always hates when I eavesdrop, and it usually gets me into more trouble than it's worth… But, I couldn't help it. I felt like something was pulling me toward that room.

"We will only make things worse if we rush her. Penelope is not ready to know the truth about her world yet," I didn't appreciate being talked about like I was still a little kid, but Mr. Brunner's voice sounded completely _defeated_. I couldn't even muster up any anger for his use of my full name.

"But there was a _Kindly_ _One_ here!" Grover sounded terrified, "She saw it… And with the deadline coming up…"

"Things will just need to be resolved without her. The Mist will protect Penelope from knowing the truth for a little while longer, and hopefully it will safeguard her as well."

"Sir, I… I can't fail again. I won't." Grover sounded even _more_ terrified than before.

I saw Mr. Brunner's shadow wave his hand in a gesture to silence Grover, "You haven't failed. I should have seen the Kindly One for what she was. Right now we need to focus our energy on keeping Penelope alive."

I almost cried out.

I cupped both hands over my mouth as fast as I could and slowly backed away from the office door. I turned around carefully when I got to the end of the hall and sprinted the whole way back to my room. My flip-flops made horrible popping noises as I ran.

My mind swirled around at breakneck speeds; I could barely string a clear thought together. I sat on my bed and stared at a blank spot on my wall. The old habit of picking at my nails came back to me and before I knew what I was doing, the beds of my fingernails were covered in blood.

I peered outside and noticed that the rain was whirling around the courtyard a lot like I had imagined my thoughts had been doing. It was eerie and I decided that I needed to go to bed before the night got any stranger.

The last thought that went through my jumbled head before I finally fell asleep was, "I'm in some kind of danger…"

* * *

I don't remember any of my tests.

No, I'm serious. I have absolutely no memory of taking my finals. I can't tell you if it went well, went horribly or if I just sat there and drooled on the pages.

I didn't interact with anyone, didn't say goodbye to anyone, and tried desperately to just speed through the day so I could be finished with Yancy Academy.

Mr. Brunner was the only one who tried to talk to me after I handed in my test. I guess I was the last one to finish because no one else was left in the room.

"PJ… I just wanted to say how sorry I am about you not returning next year."

"Um, thank you, sir." I didn't know what else to say. Like I said before, I wasn't really going to miss much about Yancy. Just him and Grover, but now I could feel myself begin to doubt even that.

"I'm sure you will find a place better suited for you." Mr. Brunner smiled kindly at me and I dropped his gaze, "Please remember that being different isn't necessarily a bad thing, Penelope."

I nodded my head, mentally twitched at my Latin teacher's use of my full name and speed walked out of the classroom. I know that Mr. Brunner was trying to be nice, but it just came across as a more sincere way of saying I was weird and always would be.

I was terrified at the idea of saying goodbye to Grover now, but it turned out that he was headed into Manhattan on the same bus that I was. We sat in somewhat uncomfortable silence until my head felt like it was going to explode. My jaw flexed a few times.

"What are Unkindly Ones?" I blurted out before I could clamp my mouth shut again.

Grover paled and looked around the bus frantically, "What… I don't know… what's that you said?" He was a terrible liar and stuttered when he was nervous. It was one of the things that Nancy had made fun of him for.

I took a deep breath and quietly admitted _everything_ I had heard outside of Mr. Brunner's office.

"PJ… he didn't want you to know all of this stuff yet," Grover shook his head and glanced around the bus again; he looked on edge. "Look, all I can say is that… I'm worried about you. And if you need me, for any reason at all… here." He handed me a card from one of his pockets.

'Grover Underwood

 _Keeper_

Half-Blood Hill

Long Island, New York

(800) 009-0009'

"What's a Keeper?" I looked at Grover, but his eyes were roaming around the bus again.

"It's… I'm…" It was Grover's turn to sigh and come clean, "I'm kind of supposed to protect you, PJ."

I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer but, "Protect me… from… what?"

The bus began to shake and wheeze, and thick black smoke billowed up over some of the windows. The driver pulled the bus over and mumbled something about checking the engine before he disappeared outside.

All of the other passengers filed out of the bus, after the driver, and wandered around the shoulder of the road. There didn't seem to be much off the old country highway. Just huge trees and some trash tumbling around in the wind. But as my eyes passed over the other side of the road again, a fruit stand appeared where I would have sworn a vacant turn off had been the first time I looked.

"Did… was that there before?" I asked Grover as I pointed through the darkly tinted windows.

"Was what there before?" Grover looked in the direction I was pointing and his mouth fell open.

There were no customers at the stand, just three really old ladies sitting in high back rocking chairs knitting. Two of them where paying attention to their work and continued to knit the gigantic socks they had going, but the old lady on the left was staring at the bus.

She looked pretty harmless. I mean, she was ancient looking, with withering paper like skin and frizzy white hair. But Grover looked so terrified that I began to feel a little queasy. As I tried to examine the lady further, I noticed that she only had one eye; a huge blue eye, only on her right side. The other eye socket was empty…

Ok, now I was scared too. "Grover… who are those ladies?"

"Um… no one… I mean, they're nobody…" Grover stammered.

"They look like… are they the Fates?" I began to return the intent stare of the old woman on the left. She smiled a toothless grin, as if she could see me through the dark glass as I gawked at her. She slowly extended her arm up over her head and pulled out a length of electric blue yarn. Then she took out a pair of old rusty kitchen sheers and snipped the thread in half.

I swear I could hear the echo of that snip from across the highway, inside the bus.

But as I gaped at the old woman, the bus rumbled back to life and everyone returned to their seats.

The rest of the ride into Manhattan was _complete_ awkward silence for Grover and me.

When we got to the bus station, Grover finally confronted me about what I saw at the fruit stand. When I told him, he began to sweat _a lot_. He kept mumbling, "Not again… why sixth grade… just like last time… they never make it past sixth grade… "

Before Grover would let me get off of the bus, he made me swear I would let him walk me home. I was nauseous and shaky; I didn't know what to believe anymore.

"Penelope… PJ, promise me… please?"

I promised Grover he could walk me home… but I _lied_.

* * *

 _SO excited to share this story with you all._

 _Please Follow, Favorite and Review! (All kinds of reviews welcome!)  
_

 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. If you like my writing, please check out my other stories: ' Thrown Back,' 'Begin Again,' and 'Life as Demigods.'_


	3. III Penelope

_Hey all! So, I couldn't wait; had to update early for this one. =)  
_

 _Thank you to all the followers, favoriters and reviewers! Special thank yous to dogbiscuit1967_ ; I appreciate your encouragement and time.

 _Hope you all enjoy. We're getting closer to more original chapters now, yay!_

* * *

 **3. Penelope**

So yea… I totally ran for it. As soon as we got our bags and made our way into the crowd at the bus terminal; I was gone.

I _tried_ to warn you I wasn't a good kid.

In my defense though, I was terrified and wasn't really thinking clearly. All I wanted to do was get home. I hailed a cab and gave him the address of my little apartment uptown.

Now just so you know, I may not see eye to eye with my mom on my name, but otherwise she's the best person on the entire planet. Unfortunately, Sally Jackson is also more unlucky than I am.

Everyone comments on how similar we look; a few people like to say I'm a carbon copy of my mom, tragic luck and all. Mom has gorgeous long wavy dark hair, smooth olive toned skin, and slight curves that make her jeans actually fit right. I honestly think I look nothing like her. My hair is a black curly mess, my skin is lightly freckled and splotchy, and I'm flat as a board; I have to wear a belt or my pants would be around my ankles. Mom keeps insisting that I'll grow into my looks, but I am _very_ doubtful.

Oh right, Mom's bad luck streak. Well first off, Mom's parents died in a plane crash when she was a little younger than me. Her cruddy uncle took her in, but really didn't do much other than feed her and clothe her. When Mom's uncle got sick though, _she_ did the nice thing and lovingly took care of him. But after the stupid guy died, my mom didn't have anything to show for it. Mom had no money, no diploma and no more family.

My mom likes to insist that meeting my dad was her lucky break. She always tells me how loving he was and how much he cared about us. But he was some bigshot, who left one day for an important trip and got lost at sea. Yea, you read that right… _lost at sea_.

I really don't remember much about the guy. I do get this weird warm feeling when I try to picture him and despite how much I kind of hate him for disappearing on my mom, I always feel a smile creeping across my face when I think about him.

Mom's worked a ton of different jobs to keep us afloat, and I have never heard her complain. Even when I got kicked out of all my different schools, she's always looking for the bright side of things.

But one thing I cannot understand her 'bright side' for is my stepdad, Gabe Ugliano; or how I lovely call him 'Smelly Gabe.' Just so no one is confused, I'll put it simply; He's a _giant jerk_.

And the nickname I gave him is completely relevant. He stinks to the high heavens. I tried to describe it to Grover one time as 'moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts' but I was kind of discussed when Grover began to look hungry. Gabe also treats my mom like crap, so I didn't have an ounce of likable feeling toward the guy.

When the taxi let me out, I exchanged money quickly with the driver and sprinted into the apartment building. I really needed to see my mom. But instead of my beautiful, sea breeze smelling mother, I was greeted by old pizza smelling Gabe and his poker buddies.

Gabe grunted when he saw me, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"School finished. I'm back for the summer." Yup, that's good old Gabe. No 'welcome home' or 'how you doing' or even 'hi.'

"Have any cash?"

No wait, _that's_ the good old Gabe I remember. I didn't bother answering him, "Where's my mom?"

Gabe's attention was back on his losing poker hand, "Working." He stabbed his chubby index finger into the table, "Cash. Now." He didn't even bother to look at me again.

"I don't have any. I gave it all to the cab driver." I didn't. I had a five and a one dollar bill in my back pocket, but I wasn't going to hand them over.

"What the hell are you giving such big tips to the cabbies for?" Gabe grunted and slammed his fist on the table and his small stack of poker chips fell over.

"Take it easy, Gabe. The girl just got back." Eddie the super was kind of nice. I like to think he only played in the poker games with Gabe because he usually won a ton of money off my stepdad.

I took Eddie's unintentional distraction and stomped to my room and slammed the door. I went to throw my suitcase on my bed, but it was covered in Gabe's junk. I moved all the ratty boxes and back issues of car magazines onto the floor and dropped myself onto the bed.

 _Yuck_ , even my pillows smelled like old garlic pizza now.

* * *

I kind of floated in and out of consciousness, imagining Gabe's stink swirling around attaching to all my stuff. The day dream got weird as Gabe's stink began to form into this green hazy bodybuilder. It got stronger, built more muscles, and then it began to grow fangs and claws… and even dragon wings…

"Penny?"

Thank God! My mom's voice pulled me from my daydream turned nightmare and I shot up from the bed a little too fast. My body must have been pretty surprised because I fell out of my bed and hit the floor with a painful jolt.

Mom walked into my room and tried not to giggle when she found me in a heap on the floor. She sat down next to me and hugged me so tight I couldn't breathe right. I complained about her smothering me to death, but we both knew that I didn't mean it. Mom had brought me a bag of 'free samples' from her job at the candy store in Grand Central Station. Every piece was blue, of course.

Oh, did I forget to tell you I'm kind of weird too? My mom and I have this bizarre thing with blue food. We both _love_ it. Mom even tries to make other _normal_ food blue… just because. I think it makes the cookies and pancakes taste better when they're blue, but I realize I'm totally bias. My mom and Gabe had gotten into this stupid fight a while back; Gabe said there wasn't any good blue food, so now my mom and I go out of our way to make and eat anything blue. That, and the fact that she hadn't changed her name when she and Smelly Gabe got married; I liked to think that's proof that my rebellious streak came partially from my mom.

And Mom is the only one who calls me 'Penny,' so do _not_ get any ideas.

We talked for a few hours about Yancy and how the school year went. Mom asked me if I had left anything out of my letters to her; I lied and said no. I just elaborated a bit more on the things I had talked about with her. She tamed my hair somehow and had it pulled into some fancy braid that fell to the middle of my back.

But then our little bubble popped, "Sally, where's that bean dip?"

My whole body tensed up and I could feel my face getting warm. Mom looked at me with a confused expression that immediately shifted to worry when she placed a hand on my cheek. I guess I was a lot more than just warm…

"Calm down, Penny," Mom's voice sounded a bit scared. "Don't worry about Gabe. Oh, I completely forgot to tell you about your surprise. We're going to Montauk for the weekend!"

"Really!?" I couldn't believe it. We hadn't gone to Montauk in a few years since money was tight. It was Mom's favorite spot, she _loved_ it there. Though that might have had something to do with the fact that Mom met my dad there. But I tried not to focus on that and instead thought about the beach, the waves and sitting on the sand with my Mom.

"Yup! I just have to make some food for Gabe to tie him over for the weekend and we'll be ready to go as soon as you pack." Mom gave me another tight bear hug and left to put together some horrible thing called 'seven layer dip.'

I packed a small duffle bag with beachy clothes and an extra pair of flip-flops. I threw in a pair of jeans, my high-tops and a rain-jacket just in case the weather was as crazy in Montauk as it had been upstate. I zipped up the bag and sat down on my bed so that I didn't have to interact with Gabe anymore then I had to.

An hour later, we were ready to go. Mom had changed into Bermuda shorts and a flowy blue top and she happily dangled the keys to Gabe's '78 Camaro in front of my face, "Ready to go, Penny?"

* * *

The whole drive to Montauk, we talked about nothing related to school. We talked about summer, our old trips to the beach, and we even talked about boys. Though there was really _nothing_ to report on that front.

The little cabin that we always rented was at the very tip of Long Island. The little square room was a horribly faded robin's egg blue, with unraveling curtains and saggy mattresses. There was always sand between the sheets, spiders made camp in the closets and the ocean was usually too cold to swim in. But it didn't matter. This place felt more like home then the apartment in uptown did.

When we got to the cabin, we opened all the windows, cleaned as much of the sand and cobwebs out as we could and then sat on the beach and watched the sunset. We ate the rest of my blue candy and tried to come up with other foods that we could turn blue.

My Mom always seems to be happier here, younger even. She had a few grey streaks through her dark hair, but I would never call her old. She's never acted that way, so I had no reference point. But I did remember last time we visited Montauk, how excited and light she became the closer we got to our cabin. And the same had happened today too.

That made me love this place even more.

When the sun was finally gone we built a little fire and roasted hot-dogs and made s'mores. I was so excited, because mom had found the blue marshmallows that I used to obsess over in fourth grade. Mom told me stories about the trips she used to take with her parents when she was a kid, and how much she wished she could take me on adventures to far off places.

As always, toward the end of our talking, I got up the courage to ask about my dad. I tried really hard not to ask about him often. It was always awkward for me, because Mom would gush about all these great things about the man and her eyes would light up. But every time she finishes one of her sappy speeches, I'd start remembering why I hated him so much.

"He was so kind, Penny." A small sad smile crossed her face and her eyes began to shine, "He was tall, handsome, powerful… but tender too. Everyone says you look like me, but every time I see you, you look more and more like him. You already know your black hair curly hair and those bright green eyes are from him. But that little wrinkle you get when you're frustrated or trying to concentrate; that's from your dad." My mom began to chuckle as my face blushed, "And that protective attitude you get when you think someone you care about is in trouble; completely your dad."

I can't believe my dad chose his big important job over my mom… Yup, there's the hate...

I hugged my knees close to my body and looked at her. Mom gazed over the black waves as they crashed into the sand. There was a little trace of a smirk on the side of her face when a wave came up too far and almost pulled our fire under.

We laughed as we picked up our remaining things and began to walk back to the cabin. My mom draped her arm around my shoulder as we walked; this somehow gave me the courage to ask my next question.

"Do you have to send me away again for school next year?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Mom didn't seem too phased by my question.

"Is it because you don't want me around; because I remind you too much of my dad?"

Mom stopped and pulled my shoulders so I was facing her, but I couldn't get myself to meet her eyes. "You know that's not the reason, Penny. I don't _want_ you to go, but I have to send you away. I have to keep you safe."

My mind flashed back to Mr. Brunner and Grover's conversation that I overheard before finals. They had said something about keeping me safe too.

"Why is everyone so worried about keeping me safe? Keeping me safe from what?" My voice had more of an edge to it then I had meant. "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm just frustrated."

Mom stared at me for a minute, "Who else said they were worried about you?"

"Just… my friend Grover. He started giving off this stalker vibe when classes finished up, but he did seem like he was genuinely worried about me."

My mom cupped my chin and forced me to look up. She looked over my face like she'd never seen me before, like I was some stranger inhabiting her daughter's body. I felt every bad memory flood my mind; every bad luck incident, every horribly unsafe event that had been blamed on me, every unkind word that was said to me. Despite my tough, cheerily deflective exterior I normally tried to put up, I felt my eyes begin to water.

"Mom, why… why am I so… _not_ normal?"

The question dazed my mom for a second. She shook her head and her voice was surprisingly harsh, "Normal is boring, Penelope. You are special. You're important."

Geez, I was so beyond confused now.

My mom kind of scared me with her tone, because she had never really raised her voice at me before. Even with all of my issues and all my suspensions; no screaming, not once. But here she was yelling about me being important somehow.

When Mom gets nervous, she rambles. She started talking, very fast mind you, about how she messed up with me. How she wanted to keep me close and she was afraid that had put me into more danger. Then she began talking about my dad like they had spoken just yesterday.

"Your father said that the camp would be safest. But with the possibility of having to say goodbye to you permanently… I just couldn't do that. I'm so sorry, Penny. I thought I could keep you safe myself." Mom looked so upset; I stopped myself from asking for any clarifications.

We walked into the cabin and got ready for bed in silence. I let my mom tuck me in like when I was little, and she kissed me on the forehead before she settled into her own bed.

* * *

That night I had another nightmare, but this one thankfully didn't have anything related to dragons, snakes or vampires. It quickly became just as horrible though. I was on the beach; I could feel the sand between my toes. A horse burst out of the ocean right in front of me and began trotting toward me. I reached my hand out waiting for it to approach so that I could pet its neck, but it never reached me. An eagle swooped down from behind a cloud and clawed at the neck of the horse. There was blood everywhere, but I couldn't look away. I tried to call out to the animals, tried to distract the eagle from dive-bombing again; but my voice didn't work. I tried to move forward to help the horse, but my feet wouldn't move. It felt like I was glued to the sand.

Then just as the eagle was angling up to take another pass at the horse, a bolt of lightning flashed down from the sky and began making its way toward me. My silent scream was so excruciating; I woke myself up from the dream.

* * *

Lighting flashed in front of one of the windows of our cabin. It was so bad outside that the rain was falling sideways.

I coughed a little and noticed that my throat was really raw.

A huge thunderclap sounded right over our roof. That's when my mom woke up with a start.

"Hurricane," was all she said as she began packing up our things, even mine. She placed my high-tops into my hands and practically tore my flip-flops away from me. Mom was a woman on a mission, I guess. She had everything ready to go in just under eight minutes. Right before we were about to brave the rain and run to the car; someone pounded on the door.

Mom and I looked at each other confused. I shrugged as she called out, "Who is it?"

"…Grrr... It's Gro…Grover!..."

I quickly turned the locks and threw open the door to find a shivering, stuttering… pants-less… Grover.

He turned to my mom and addressed her like an old friend, "Hi Mrs. Jackson." Grover then looked at me, "What were you thinking!?"

I was shocked into silence. But my mom seemed to be perfectly fine with my friend; soaked completely through, stammering angry voice, pants-less…

Oh yea… and _goat legs_!

"Penny, what happened at school?" My mom looked at me with terror in her eyes.

Grover gaze turned harsher, "Wait… you didn't tell her yet? _O Zeu kai alloi theoi_!" Grover stammered as he came into our little cabin and my mother threw a towel over his shoulders.

I almost slipped into my familiar fuzziness, but I held it back. This was obviously not the right moment to get lost in my own head. I was so distracted, that I didn't even register that Grover had spoken another language; and that I had understood every word of it.

Mom took my shoulders and made me face her; eyes locked and everything. "Tell me everything right now, Penelope," She wasn't yelling, but she sure did look mad. And she pulled out the full name…

... I'm done for…

I collected myself just enough so that I could explain about the crazy demonic ex math teacher and the old one-eyed lady at the fruit stand. It was difficult to keep myself from falling into the fuzzy feeling in my brain, but my mom helped me stay conscious and talking.

When I was done telling her everything, her face was as white as a sheet.

She told Grover and I to grab the bags and we sprinted to the Camaro through the torrential downpour.

* * *

 _Woohoo! Next chapter is going to be fun!  
_

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 _And I know this is incredibly self-serving, but the stat-tracker on the site is broken... so the only way I know if anyone is visiting the story is if you follow, favorite or REVIEW! Please?_

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 _Misha_

 _Ps. if you like my writing please take a look at 'Thrown Back,' 'Begin Again,' and 'Life as a Demigod.'_


	4. IV Sally

_Hey all! So excited to share this one with you guys, first different POV chapter; and I need your opinions, so PLEASE REVIEW!  
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* * *

 **4.** **Sally**

I have never screamed at my daughter before; but tonight I _really_ wanted to. How could she not tell me that she was attacked by a _Fury_ that had been masquerading as her pre-algebra teacher? Or that some wrinkly old woman, who sounds suspiciously like one of the three Fates, cut a string right in front of her?

Oh my Gods; I can't think straight.

And now I have a satyr in the back of Gabe's car.

The rain was so thick, I could barely see out the windshield. I can't even be sure I was going in the right direction. The only reason things looked somewhat familiar at all was because Penny's father showed me the camp once in a dream.

I sent him a silent prayer, begging that this was the right way.

It felt like my head was going to explode from all the information that was trying to escape my mind. There was so much that I wanted to tell Penny; so much that I needed to tell her.

But there's so much that I just _can't_.

Pos… Penny's father was very adamant about the fact that I couldn't tell her who her father was. It would put her in even more danger then a regular demigod. He never told me the details of everything, but since Penny's dad is so powerful, he was certain that Penelope was going to be one of the more powerful demigods.

And he warned me that her power was _not_ going to sit well with the other Gods up there.

Every time the lightning struck, I glanced back at Grover through the rear view mirror. He looked at me too. I guess we were both trying to size up the other. I've known about him all year. I had put a lot of faith into him being able to protect my daughter. But with her father's warning, I should have realized that Penny was going to be too powerful to protect out in the mortal world forever.

I cursed myself silently as I thought about all the 'mysterious' incidents Penelope had been blamed for over the years. I tried my hardest to make sure that she never felt responsible, and I tried to shield her from people who could never understand how special she was.

I'm a good parent, right?

I just… I just didn't want Penny to disappear like her father did. I know it's selfish, but it's the truth.

My brain started shuffling through the happiest of memories that I had with Penny. Her first word, first step, first time she swam the full length of the pool by herself; I began to tear up a little as the imagines flew by in my head.

Grover was explaining to Penny what a satyr was. I glanced at the mirror again and another lightning bolt hit close to the back bumper of the car. The flash illuminated the area behind us and I gasped as I saw something huge and burly clopping down the same roadway we were driving. A weird bellowing noise called out, and I'm pretty sure it came from the creature.

We were being followed.

My brain shifted into high gear and I made a decision that I wish I could have made earlier in life so I had more time to explain everything to my daughter.

"Penelope," I interrupted Grover and Penny arguing about which myths were real or not.

"Yea, Mom?" Penny looked at me with scared wide eyes. I guess she had heard the bellowing too.

"I'm about to tell you a whole bunch of very strange things. You're not going to believe that they're real, but… they are. And I didn't tell you any of this before, because I was trying to protect you. The only way to keep you safe was to keep you in the dark." I glanced back at my daughter as we continue to barrel down the dusty country road, "I need you to remember that and try to keep an open mind as I tell you everything, ok?"

Penelope nodded.

I took a deep breath and tried to find the least amount of words to explain the most amount of information; I didn't know how much time we had left.

"Your dad is a Greek God; you're a demigod, that means half-blood god. I can't tell you who he is, they have rules," I glared a little at Grover through the mirror, even though he had nothing to do with said rules. Grover didn't notice though because his back was turned and he was peering out the window trying to see what was following us.

"What!?" Penny's mouth is hanging open and her eyebrows are almost to her hairline. I tried not to laugh as I continued to ramble.

"No questions; just listen. Your father left because he had to, but he never abandoned you. Do you remember those seashells that appear on your pillow every morning on your birthday? Those aren't from me; those are from him. He can't show favoritism or intervene, because that's the _rules_. But he loves you and has _always_ tried to keep you safe."

I chanced another look at Penny as she sat there trying to process my words. The little wrinkle I mentioned in Montauk is there on her forehead and I find myself smiling despite our desperate situation.

"Penny, demigods give off a smell that monsters can track. And the more you know about yourself and your parentage, the _stronger_ the smell… easier to track, more danger... you get that, right?"

Penelope nodded her head again.

"Ok, so now that someone or something has made _real_ threats against you and is coming after you, there's no point in the secrets anymore. I have to take you to that camp we talked about. They're the only ones who can keep you safe now."

"The camp you didn't want to take me to because you were afraid I would never be able to come back?"

"Yes, sweetie." My voice got very soft, "But we'll figure it out. We always do. We'll…"

I should have been watching the road more closely. I should have seen the lightning. I should have veered sooner…

* * *

The lightning hit the car and my late reaction turn swerved us off the road into a ditch. I quickly pulled myself out of the shock and called to Penny and Grover. They both groaned, so they were still alive… for now. Water was streaming into the car from a giant hole in the roof.

I looked back and saw the dark figure getting closer to the edge of the road.

"Ow…" Penelope rubbed her neck as she tried to sooth the pain away.

"Food…" Great, Grover must have hit his head.

Another lightning bolt flashed; and I had to cover my mouth so that it wouldn't hear my scream. The creature was up on the road still, but I could clearly see his outline. He had to be seven feet tall at least, it looked like he was wearing a very shaggy jacket, and there were huge horns on his head.

"Penelope, get out of the car." I realized what was following us… following Penny.

"What about Grover?" She was fumbling with the satyr's seat belt and trying to get the boy to sit up.

"That thing's not after us, he's after you. You need to get out of the car _now_ ," my voice was low but much more severe than I had intended.

"What?" Penny locked eyes with me, I'm sure she could see the desperation in my eyes as I looked at her.

I swallowed hard, "You need to run, Honey." I saw the tree from my dream a little more than one hundred yards away, "The property line is right over there. That huge tree over there; all you have to do is get past that tree and you'll be safe."

I saw the realization flood Penny's eyes; saw the anger and worry surface in her expression, "I am _not_ leaving you guys."

"Yes. You are. I need you to get to that tree and call for help. GO."

Penny glared at me, her green eyes almost glowed and I could feel the heat coming off her body, "No. I am not running without you and Grover. Now help me get him out of the seat belt."

There was no more time to argue, I shook my head as I surrendered and helped remove the satyr from the car.

As we all got out of the car, I grabbed Penelope's small duffle and I motioned for her to walk as quickly and as quietly as possible. With Grover between us we were not going to be able to have a fast getaway, but we could at least try to not attract more attention to ourselves. The mud was going to be an issue too, but thankfully I had made Penelope replace those ridiculous flip-flops she always wore.

"Wait…" Penny whispered as we tried to side step away from the monster. He hadn't moved an inch yet, but I could see him sniffing the air wildly. "Isn't that a Mina…"

"SHH," I reached around Grover and covered Penelope's mouth. "Names have power; don't say it."

We got about fifty feet away from the Camaro before the half man- half bull reached the broken car and began sniffing out what had happened to us. Penny looked confused as the monster continued to nuzzle the seats, but didn't look around to see where we were.

"They don't see or hear very well, Penny. They rely mostly on scent. That's why we need to keep moving." I pulled on Grover to try to get Penelope to move her feet again.

I guess the monster got frustrated that Penny wasn't in the car, and the car paid the ultimate price. He picked up the Camaro like it was a toy and chucked it against the nearby hillside.

It exploded.

And of course, just our luck; as soon as he ended his temper tantrum, he caught Penelope's scent again.

"Penny, he can smell you; he's going to charge in a minute. He can't change directions well so stand your ground as long as you can and then run directly sideways, understand?"

Penelope looked at me like I was crazy, "How do you know all of this, mom!?"

I shook my head, "No time to explain." I took Grover's full weight onto my shoulder and signaled up to the tree again. The hill was a lot steeper than it had first looked, but we were getting closer. "Go; I'll try to distract him after the first charge."

I looked over my daughter; her wild black curls were so wet from the rain that her hair almost looked straight, her green eyes were bright and focused and her mouth was set in a determined expression.

I tried to memorize it… just in case.

Penny nodded her head to tell me she understood. She staggered off to the side and waited for the monster to ready himself.

I placed Grover down at the base of a tree as close to the property line as I could manage. I tucked the duffle bag under his arm after I pulled out one of Penny's shirts. Then I ran as fast as possible down the muddy hill and crossed to a small clearing about fifty feet away from Penelope.

The monster had already begun running toward Penelope; I held my breath as I watched. Penny stood there, bracing her legs against the damp ground. Her body was twitching, trying to gauge when to jump. Then, just as the horns of the beast were about to graze Penelope's body, she rocketed to her left at a ninety degree angle.

I almost cheered.

I was so proud of her. But when Penelope looked around to find where I was, she frowned. She saw how far I was from the property line. I smiled at her weakly and shook my head; I pointed up at the big pine tree again.

I picked up a dense looking stick and began beating the trees and branches around me. I waved Penelope's shirt toward the monster like one of those bull fighters, "Run, Penny. Get to the tree." The banging was loud enough to get the monsters attention and the smell that was wafted toward the thing, fooled him into thinking that Penny was over by me now.

When Penelope realized what I was doing, she got really angry. Her face got red and it looked like steam was coming off her skin.

But it was too late; the monster was already charging toward me.

I tried to set myself up for a jump, but the bull had learned from his mistakes. As I tried to run, I felt his huge hand encircle my neck and squeeze. It was so painful I almost blacked out. But I tried to fight him, I couldn't die that easily. I kicked and scratched and wiggled as much as I could, but there was no use.

I sent up another silent prayer to Penelope's father; _please… keep her safe._

"Mom!" Penny screamed as she took a few staggered steps toward the monster.

No, she can't come this way. "Go!" I managed to choke out.

Then everything melted into warm golden light.

* * *

 **Penelope**

"NO!" I felt the fear in my body being quickly replaced by white hot rage. Every inch of my body felt like it was burning. I felt the rain turning into steam as the droplets got close to my skin.

My mom was gone…

The bull beast was now trudging toward Grover. He sniffed around the satyr and found my duffle bag of clothes. The monster began poking at the limp form of my friend, I guess he was trying to figure out if Grover was me or not.

Then the monster reared its ugly head and let out one of those bellowing noises. I think that meant he was angry that it wasn't me who lay motionless at his feet.

I clinched my fists so hard that the skin over my knuckles turned white; I couldn't let the bull thing hurt anyone else. I found myself wishing for that pen Mr. Brunner had tossed me back at the museum... wait, so that was real?... But I couldn't let myself get distracted by things I didn't have.

It was strange, but I immediately felt my brain shift into this weird state of consciousness I had never felt before. There were a dozen different scenarios flying through my head on how to save Grover.

Wait, I _had_ felt this before… at the MET. Right before Mrs. Dodds had attacked there had been a quick burst of courage and a tiny glimpse of what I had to do. I guess I didn't notice it then since everything had happened so quickly. Or maybe since I had a better idea of who I was, I could focus on this weird state of mind more.

Well… none of the plans in my head looked promising, but I just had to go with it. "HEY! Beasty, over here! I'm over here you stupid pile of ground beef!"

Ok, not the best of the ideas I saw in my head, but… whatever. I stood in front of the biggest tree I could find and ripped off my jacket. I waved it around in front of me, trying to waft whatever scent I was carrying toward the thing and maybe attract him to the movement of the waving red material.

I thought I was going to be able to jump to the side again, but bull guy was going way too fast for me this time. I really have no idea how I did it, it was completely instinctive.

I jumped straight up.

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as I leapt into the air and flew over the monster. I saw him ram into the tree head first and stagger back trying to shake off the pain of from the impact.

Oh, and where did I land? On his head of course; bounced right off of his big meaty head like a diving board and ended up clinging to his huge neck.

Again… no idea.

When the man-bull realized I was on top of him, he thrashed around trying to throw me off. I grabbed onto his horns trying to keep a firm hold. The weather wasn't helping me any, of course; it was still pouring down rain and lightning flashed every few minutes. The monster smelled like wet dying dog. I tried to hold my breath as I held on for dear life.

Then Grover began to stir, attracting the stupid bull thing to him again. The monster pawed the ground and was gearing up for another running pass. I felt the rage peak inside of me again; I guess it had died down once I got bull-head away from my friend. Heat coursed through my body and the air began to vaporize around me.

I heard the monster cry out in pain even before I ripped the horn off of his head- SNAP.

I landed, a bit dazed, on the ground a few feet away from meat-brain holding a jagged looking bone. It briefly glowed red and I dropped it because it felt like it was burning in my hands. But the monster was setting up for another charging pass, and he was facing _me_ again.

I picked up the now cooled horn and weighed it briefly in my hands to gauge if it was worth using. Beef-brain didn't give me much time to think about it though, and I had to jump and roll out of his way as he charged.

Without even registering my movement, I popped up from my roll in a kneeling position and thrust the broken horn into the side of the monster entirely on instinctively.

He screamed in agony as he flailed his arms and clawed at the side where I had stabbed him. I watched as he slowly began to crumble into gross yellow powder; just like Mrs. Dodds.

The horned monster was gone.

* * *

I staggered toward Grover and pulled his arm over my shoulder. I wanted to sit down beside him, curl up into a ball and sob; but Mom had died trying to save me and I wasn't going to screw up her last act as my mom.

The hill seemed steeper than it had been earlier. As I dragged the half-conscious Grover over the grass, my legs began to violently shake; but I kept moving forward. I had to get to that stupid tree.

I don't remember seeing anything as I walked; everything was blurry from the tears that had begun to stream from my eyes. I just kept trudging forward and soon found myself walking up some creaky wooden stairs.

I dropped Grover on the porch and fell down beside him; I wasn't sure if my legs would ever work again. The adrenaline from the fight had finally worn off and I could tell that I had a few broken bones and possibly a concussion, and every _inch_ of my body hurt.

Before my body shut down, a face appeared standing over my head. The grumpy looking blonde might have been cute if he wasn't frowning at me. "She's the one, she has to be." But Blondie didn't sound too confident.

The weird thing was, I thought I heard Mr. Brunner next, "Silence, Alec. She's still conscious. Go get Will and bring these two inside."

* * *

 _Eek! So I really hope you all liked this chapter. I really wanted to give Sally a more prominent part in PJ finding out who she really was. And I wanted Sally to be able to help more in battling the bull-guy._

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!_

 _Any and all reviews welcome!_

 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Please also check out my other stories; ' Begin Again,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Life as Demigods.'_


	5. V Alexander

_Happy Monday to all! Wanted to post on the holiday, so here ya go... =)_

 _As always, thank you for Following and Favorite-ing. And bogbiscuit, Love you tons. THANK YOU._

 _Chapter 5 awaits!_

* * *

 **5\. Alexander**

I jogged down to the Apollo cabin and knocked on the door frame. It was getting late but the door was still open so, I poked my head in to see if I could find the 'master healer.'

"Hey Solace! We need you up at the Big House; bring your med kit."

I said 'hi' to some of the other Apollo kids as I waited for the scrawny little healer. Will finally fumbled through a doorway lugging a hug messenger bag filled with his medical supplies. I really shouldn't call him scrawny since we look so alike, but he is two years younger than me so I have to give him a hard time.

Will's a skinny guy, with blonde curly hair and blue eyes. If you didn't look too hard, we could probably pass as twins. That's probably why I feel the need to tease him; I hate that a ten year old is almost as tall as me.

Will's been one of my best friends since he came to camp. He got to Camp Half-Blood three years ago and he's a lifer just like me, but he's here by choice. His mom is apparently some famous doctor with Doctors Without Borders, so the places she travels to aren't always very safe. She gave Will the option to go to boarding school or come here. He takes classes online so that he can stay at camp full time. Some of the other lifers, like me, take classes through our computer screens too; but most just stick with the teachings from camp. Sometimes 'school' takes a back seat to 'demigod training.'

And he may only be ten, but anyone who gets injured here wants Will to fix them up. He's the best healer the camp has had in decades, according to Chiron.

"So what do we have, Alec?" Will had his game face on; he's usually a lighthearted guy except when he's in doctor mode.

"Grover's back and he found another demigod; a girl this time. Not really sure what happened to either of them. They're both unconscious." I lead the way back up to the Big House.

"How'd they get here if they're both unconscious?" I could tell he was annoyed that there wasn't a lot of information to go on.

I chuckled, "Well, the girl is tougher then she looks. I think she fought off a monster and then dragged Grover all the way over Half-Blood hill and right up to the porch." I waved at the two unconscious bodies in front of us.

"Whoa," Will gasped as he analyzed the state of his patients. "Let's get Grover inside first. I don't think he's too bad, but I'm kind of afraid to move the girl."

"What do you mean?" I looked over the girl's face. She seemed kind of peaceful, but I was worried by Will's reaction to moving her.

Will placed one hand gingerly over the girl's forehead and the other over her stomach. He closed his eyes and mumbled some ancient Greek and his hands glowed a light gold. "Well… looks like she has a minor bruise on her occipital lobe, that should heal up with the ambrosia though. All of her vertebrochondral ribs are broken on her left side and she has a greenstick fracture on her right ulna.

Now I may be a son of the Goddess of Wisdom, but medicine is not one of my current study subjects, "And again in English, for the medically challenged?"

"She bruised the back of her brain, broke three lower ribs and has a partial break on her arm." Will rolled his eyes at me, "Didn't you read any of those medical books I gave you? How are you going to assist me?"

"By admitting the fact that you are the expert and following everything you tell me to do," I was completely serious and I think Will understood I wasn't trying to poke fun at him; there was a faint smile on his face as we lifted Grover between us.

Like I said; I'm a smart guy, but I'm nothing resembling a doctor.

We got Grover settled into one of the beds on the second floor and returned to the porch for the 'field medicine' portion of the night. I had grabbed a blanket off one of the beds and rolled it into a low neck support pillow so Will could stabilize the girl's head. I poured tiny amounts of Nectar slowly down her throat as Will set her arm in a splint and wrapped it up.

After about thirty minutes of Nectar and checking vitals, Will said she was stable enough to move. We carried her limp body up to the room next to Grover's and tucked her into bed.

I then followed Will into the kitchen of the Big House where he told me to start boiling water for a tea supplement for Grover. He began riffling through the fridge and found some ambrosia pudding for our new demigod.

Will took over brewing the tea; it honestly just smelled like roots and dirt to me. He handed me a small cup of the pudding and directed me back up to the girl's room and told me to try to feed her.

I grabbed one of the folding chairs from the game room and headed back up to the girl; Penelope… Chiron said her name was Penelope; ...what a mouthful. I set up next to her bed and tried to get her to swallow the ambrosia.

Now ambrosia is pretty amazing stuff. It's the food of the gods, but demigods can eat it in small quantities to help us heal faster. But we have to be careful because if we eat too much, there is a risk of burning up from the inside out.

Penelope's eyes flutter slightly, but they don't really open. She was able to eat the small amount of pudding and then slipped off to sleep again. I pulled the blanket up to her shoulder, kind of tucking her in before I left the room.

I found Will sitting next to Grover's bedside, trying to talk the semiconscious satyr into drinking the tea he had made.

Whatever it was did the trick; as soon as Grover had drained the cup, the color came back to his face and he looked alert.

"Where… where's PJ?" Grover peered around the room nervously.

"You mean, Penelope?" Grover nodded his head urgently as I spoke. "She's in the next room recovering."

"How bad is she?" The satyr turned to Will with an anxious expression.

Will wrinkled his forehead and I was surprised he remembered to use _normal_ words, "She's got a few broken bones and lots of bruises. We'll have to feed her ambrosia a couple times to get her completely healed up. But she'll recover in a couple days at most."

Grover signed with relief.

"So what happened?" I was _always_ curious about new campers. The prophecy I had heard a few years ago always pulled at the back of my mind. Penelope could be the demigod that was mentioned by the oracle; but before I jumped to that conclusion, I needed more information. And I wasn't going to get anything from the girl while _she_ was out cold.

The satyr began telling the story about how he was sent to a school called Yancy Academy and had found Penelope. Grover knew that she was a demigod immediately, but it took him a while to figure out how powerful because the girl was pretty well protected by some awful stench that covered her smell. Grover elaborated on some of the incidents that had happened and we started to get the idea of just how powerful PJ really was. And these were things that Penelope had done _without_ knowing anything about her Godly side.

When Grover got to the part of the story about racing to the camp in a Camaro, he suddenly stopped short.

His eyes got wide and he made to get out of the bed; Will stopped him of course and forced him to sit down again, "What are you doing, Grover? You were just unconscious a little while ago; you're not going anywhere."

"I have to… She can't be… I need to…"

"Wait… Grover, what happened to PJ's mom?" I knew that I didn't want the answer to the question the second it left my mouth.

"I... I don't know." Grover stared out the dark window, looking like someone had just punched him in the stomach.

"Oh, Gods…" I rubbed the sides of my head, trying to not relive my own horrible entrance into Camp Half-Blood. Grover had been there too… and our trip hadn't ended very well either. "Tell us the rest of what you remember Grover."

The satyr hung his head and told us the remainder of the story. He told us about how they had crashed and he had hit his head pretty hard. Grover still remembered enough bits and pieces from after the crash that we could figure out what had happened; the fight that had followed, the sacrifices that had been made and the power that Penelope had showcased.

"Ok,… Will, how long do you think it will take for Grover to be alright to walk on his own?" A plan began to form in my head.

"An hour or two; nothing's broken. But I'd feel more comfortable about you not moving until tomorrow morning." Will tried to smile encouragingly at the satyr.

"Ok, so bright and early tomorrow morning; you, me and Grover are going over the hill to scout and see if there is anything left from the crash." I nodded to Grover, trying to offer a comforting expression. But he wouldn't really look at me. I know he still felt guilty over what had happened with me, Luke and Thalia; but right now we needed to focus on Penelope.

Especially since I was pretty sure that she was a child of one of the Big Three; which meant she could be the one from the prophecy.

* * *

The next morning, after two more cups of root and herb tea, Grover was up and about. Will fed Penelope another small serving of ambrosia pudding and then we set off for the other side of Half-Blood Hill.

As we passed by the pine tree that protected the boarder of camp; I pressed my palm to the tree for a second before we moved down the hill. It was a habit that I picked up over the years I've grown up at camp.

You see, the tree is actually my friend Thalia. She sacrificed herself to save me when I was seven. She was a child of Zeus, and the king of the gods took pity on his dying daughter and turned her into a tree to save her essence. Her power now helps protect the camp from monsters and other creatures that might attack. I hate that I was too young to help her and I live with the guilt every day; but there's nothing I can do now.

The crash site was pretty easy to find, unfortunately it had been discovered by a delivery crew from the next farm over earlier this morning. We found some police officers and a few of the farmhands being interviewed as we tried to look innocent but curious. There were also animal control workers searching a nearby clearing.

Will spoke to one of the works from the Leven's farm and found out that the crash was believed to have been caused by the bad weather. But the real concern was some giant animal tracks that were found about fifty feet from the car. They said it looked like a giant bull might have attacked the survivors of the crash. But no one knew where the survivors were... or the bull.

Grover sneaked around a tree on the outskirts of the clearing and casually slung a duffle bag over his shoulder. I wanted to get back to camp, but then Grover started circling the other trees close by, brushing the grass aside with his sneakers.

"What are you looking for?" I asked him out of the side of my mouth.

"Spoils," Grover mumbled as he stepped around me and moved further away from the car and the clearing. He let out a small gasp as he picked up a giant horn. Grover looked around at the other people and quickly wrapped the broken horn in a pillowcase, and he began walking slowly back up the hill to the pine tree. I whistled to Will and motioned up at Grover.

Thankfully no one had questioned where we were from; I guess we had the mist to thank for that. And we disappeared before most people even noticed we were there. Anyone who was us would hopefully think we were just nosy kids walking around the country side.

* * *

 _Sorry it's a bit short... but there will be another update on the regular update day of Thursday._

 _PLEASE Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!_

 _Reviews keep writers motivated and happy. =D_

 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. please check out my other stories too: ' Life as Demigods,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	6. VI Alexander

_Happy Thursday to all! Hope everyone is feeling good today... Almost Friday... WooHoo!  
_

 _HUGE thank yous to dogbuiscuit1967 and liaregie for taking a few seconds to review. You two are the BEST! And of course big thank yous to anyone who Followed or Favorite-ed these past few days. I appreciate you and am humbled by your interest in my little story._

 _Currently working on a companion piece... I'll let you now when it's out. (thanks dogbuiscuit!)_

 _And here is Chapter 6..._

* * *

 **6. Alexander**

As the three of us walked back over Half-Blood Hill, the sun was beginning to rise over the mess pavilion. Will handed me a strict schedule to follow for Penelope. He was leaving for most of the day to visit with his mom, who had a six hour layover at JFK.

 _'Penelope Jackson:_

 _-one 4 ounce serving of ambrosia pudding every three hours_

 _-Nectar sparingly throughout the day to keep healing progressing and hydration up_

 _-full 8 ounce glass of Nectar after Pt wakes up_

 _**Do no harass Pt about prophecy or summer solstice deadline'_

Will poked me in the arm, "And if it's on the paper that means you have to do it." He knew me too well. I wasn't sure if I was happy about that or not.

"Yea, yea. Have fun with your mom Sun Boy," I gave him a smile before I headed up to the Big House to report for nurse duty.

I found Chiron on the porch reading in his wheelchair; I tried to talk to him briefly about the Great Prophecy, but he wouldn't comment or even listen to anything I had to say.

"I'm trying to protect you as much as I am trying to protect PJ. Please Alec, leave this be for the time being. Things will be revealed in due time, I assure you."

I hate when he turns into the 'protective uncle.' Since I've lived at camp full-time now for five years, Chiron has kind of become family. He taught me Greek and helped me learn to focus my mind to overcome the ADHD and dyslexia that almost all demigods have. It's been really helpful for my computer classes and my unhealthy obsession for architecture books.

A heavy sigh escapes my throat as I get a small cup of ambrosia and climb the stairs to the second floor. I was surprised to hear sounds coming from Penelope's room; Will was certain that she wouldn't wake up until late this afternoon.

But the mutterings soon turned to screams.

PJ was having a nightmare; or maybe even one of those night terror things I've read about. Her arms and legs kicked out and looked like they were trying to fight an invisible monster. She bolted upright in bed and screamed out as I tried to push her back to her pillow. Then she fell back onto the bed and just began to cry; it was horrible gut wrenching sobs. It was really hard to watch, but I stuck around because no one should be by themselves with something like this.

She still wasn't really conscious, but I tried to talk to her; to at least let her know that she wasn't alone.

"Hey there, um… it's ok. You're safe now. There are no monsters here, I promise." But with what Grover told us about Penelope's mom, I was pretty sure she wasn't crying about the monster.

When she finally calmed down, I found myself staring at very green eyes.

Her eyes were glassy and bloodshot, but she seemed to be awake.

"Hey, I need you to eat this." I offered her a spoonful of the pudding and she took it and swallowed without any hesitation.

"Tastes like popcorn," her voice was ragged and small.

I smiled a bit, "Yea, it tastes different to each person. It's called ambrosia; tends to take on some kind of familiar taste influenced by a good memory."

"You talk a lot," a smile pulled at one corner of her mouth as she took another spoonful.

"Yea, well you snore like an old man when you sleep," not sure why I felt the need to lash out…

She took the last bit of ambrosia; her smirk was fully formed now, "I'm so tired."

I watched as her eyes fell closed again and a small wheezing sound signaled that she was asleep again.

Ok, I lied; her snore was actually kind of cute. But even when she looked half dead she seemed to be all snarky. I was never going to get along with someone if they couldn't take things seriously, and this girl was supposed to be my ticket into a quest and the possible savior of the Gods…

* * *

After lunch I went back up to Penelope's room with another round of ambrosia. I found her kind of in between awake and asleep, but she wasn't thrashing around this time so I don't think it was a nightmare. I shook her shoulder lightly and tried to get her to roll onto her back and sit up.

She seemed to have a hard time keeping her head up, so I propped some pillows behind her head and handed her the spoon.

"Weird, tastes like cookies now," Penelope shook her head slightly and tried to focus her eyes on me as I scooped some more of the pudding.

I wasn't sure how much conscious time she would have, so I rushed my questions, "Do you know what was stolen? Do you know what's going to happen at the summer solstice?"

She scrunched her eyebrows together and looked like she was getting a headache or something, "What? What are you talking about?"

There was a knock at the door, so I quickly spooned the last of the ambrosia into her mouth. As she swallowed the pudding she drifted off to sleep again.

Argus opened the door and took up position in the corner of the room. Several of his eyes were on Penelope's sleeping form and the others were all pointed in different directions to watch over her. He motioned down the hallway with his hand to tell me I was needed down stairs.

Chiron and Mr. D were seated at a table shuffling cards. My mentor saw me first and smiled as I took a seat next to him.

"How is our patient doing?" Chiron asked as he dealt the cards out to Mr. D and himself.

"Alright I guess. She's seems more exhausted than anything else now. Will said she should be up and about before dinner." I chance a look at Mr. D. He's in charge of the camp, but he doesn't like the job. It's his punishment for chasing some nymph I've heard. I really wanted to ask him about the summer solstice, but I know he'd probably try to drown me in smashed grapes or something. He doesn't really like talking about his father.

"Good," Chiron looked happily at his cards, I guess he had some luck with this hand, "Would you mind talking to Luke and making sure that a cot is set up for Penelope at Cabin 11 by tonight?"

"Sure thing," I walked down the hill to the Hermes cabin and found Luke sitting on the porch sharpening his favorite sword. He flashed me a smile when he saw me stop in front of him.

"And what can I do for you today, Al?" Luke and Thalia are the only ones who called me that, my stomach still gets a little tight when Luke used the name.

"New camper who needs a bed; undetermined so far," I sat down next to him on the steps. Luke was nineteen now. While we were on the run; Luke, Thalia and I had become family. And since Luke was older, I think he took on more guilt than I did when we survived and she didn't. We still hung out and he was protective of me like a brother would be, but he was distant with me a lot too.

Luke wore a puzzling expression; almost bordering on angry. "Imagine that… _undetermined_ ," he kind of mumbled to himself, before he remembered I was sitting there with him. The usual playful smirk was back in place, "I hear your new girlfriend's a fighter. She took down a pretty nasty one coming over the hill. At least that's what all the rumors are saying as they rip through here like some kind of storm spirit."

I pushed at Luke's shoulder, he knew my obsession with the new campers because of the prophecy and he liked poking fun when he could. "Haha. Hard to even get to know someone when they're out cold, let alone get them to be my girlfriend."

He laughed, "Yea, well… do you think she might be the _one_?"

I couldn't help laughing at his double meaning. I quickly stuck my tongue out at him and glared, "Definitely not, seems too sarcastic for me… but Grover said she was pretty powerful, so she _could_ be a child of one of the Big Three. But we're still not sure."

The slight shadow had returned to Luke's face, "Yea, well I wouldn't hold my breath that she gets claimed anytime soon. You know how _they_ are…"

Luke went back to detailing his sword so I figured he was finished talking to me, "I'll see you later." He waved without even glancing at me.

* * *

I wandered over to the area to get some training in before I had to give Penelope another serving of ambrosia.

With the school semester finished many of the summer demigods were back. Almost all of the other campers are older than me; but I've had a few more years of training than most. I found one of my 'brothers' sparring with a boy from the Hephaestus cabin. They were testing out some of the forgers new sword and shield creations and they were having a blast attacking each other.

"Alec! Come here man," Ben Conroy was another son of Athena, he was about fifteen now and was almost as obsessed with history as I was with architecture. We clasped hands and briefly hugged before he and Charlie Beckendorf began showing off the new weapons.

Now you would never believe it when you looked at him, but Charlie was only fourteen. He was almost six feet tall already and he had muscles everywhere. He was kind of a giant teddy bear though and was nice to absolutely everyone. But his real claim to fame was his amazing tinkering skills.

Charlie had not come across an item that he couldn't make or make _better_. He could form Celestial Bronze into almost anything.

The new swords are amazing; they felt lighter than most of the weapons at camp but seemed to be stronger and sharper as I tested it against one of the straw dummies. It sliced through the dried grass with little to no effort on my part.

"These are pretty nice, Beckendorf. I'm impressed," but the sword still felt a bit excessive in my hands.

"Think I could tempt you to carry one instead of your tiny knife?" Charlie chuckled as he eyed my large dagger.

It's nothing spectacular, but it's mine. Luke gave it to me when we were on the run with Thalia, and they taught me how to wield it with precision. No one at camp was better with a dagger than me, not even Luke now; though he was still reigning champion of the sword.

I unsheathed my dagger of Celestial Bronze and flipped the blade over in my hand a few times, "I'm afraid not. Much more versatility with my dagger; trickier moves, easier to conceal... you understand." I grinned as Ben lined up in front of me and grasped one of the swords in both his hands.

In reality, I know a sword would almost always win against even an _over-sized_ knife. But against a stupid monster… or say, an opponent that I knew almost all the moves of, me and my dagger would do just fine. Within a few minutes I had sidestepped Ben's initial attack and ducked under his hacking swing; then I rolled around behind him and gently poked my knife at his back.

The three of us laughed it off. This was only Ben's second year at camp, and he was still learning.

I stuck around for an hour or so to show Ben a few coordinated moves with his new sword and shield. Charlie helped Ben understand the stances and stood in as our 'enemy' at times when I wanted to show Ben a certain angle for an attack.

"Nice! There you go, Ben. Just keep practicing that and make sure to focus on your elbow movement. Power doesn't just come from your shoulder hacking downward."

I walked through the strawberry fields on my way back up to the Big House and sneaked a few berries. There weren't many red ones yet since the season was just starting up, but I found a few early ones and chowed down.

When I got up to the house, I noticed that Grover and Will had moved Penelope onto the porch. She still looked really groggy and she didn't seem to have the ability to focus her eyes yet; but she did look better. Will handed her a glass of Nectar and Grover stood by, shifting nervously from foot to foot… hoof to hoof? The satyr cradled the wrapped up horn in one arm and hung his head as I approached the steps.

I put my hand on Grover's shoulder as I passed and hoped he would take it as a supportive gesture. I then looked at PJ and tried not to stare at her green eyes.

"So how are you feeling, Sleeping Beauty?"

* * *

 _Sorry for the slight cliff hanger. Next Chapter will be posted soon though so I'm sure you'll all be fine._

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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' Life as Demigods,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	7. VII Penelope

_Hey there! Can't thank everyone enough for their Follows, Favorites and Reviews! You all are simply **amazing**!_

 _Extra thank yous to liargie, prince of the seas, and dogbiscuit1967 for taking an extra minute and writing a few kind words. Please leave a comment or review if you have a sec! I would **really ** appreciate it. =)_

 _Also, sorry there was no extra update on Monday. Life got in the way._

 _Anyway... here we go!_

* * *

 **7. Penelope**

"So how are you feeling Sleeping Beauty?" The blonde steely eyed boy looked at me like he had a leg up. I couldn't let him win this one so easily.

I locked eyes with him; he probably thought I was going to yell. But instead I felt a smirk form on my lips, "You're a pretty funny guy. Why can I only picture you with a frown on your face?"

The other blonde boy, the happier one who sounds like a doctor even though he looked _younger_ than me, snorted really loud. The distinctive frown and wrinkled eyebrows returned to Funny Boy's face, but Happy Boy is the one who answered.

"He's a little more serious than most. But he's also one of the smartest one's here, so I wouldn't bother arguing with him… just so you know." Happy Boy sat down next to me and offered a hand, "I'm Will Solace, that's Alec Chase and you already know Grover Underwood."

I took his hand and looked at each face as they were introduced and try to commit the two new names and faces to memory. My head still had that fuzzy feeling and I was really unsure anything was going to stick. Will was a little shorter than me, curly white-blonde hair, blue-eyed, round baby face and happy expression in place. Alec looked about my height, curly yellow-blonde hair, grey-eyed, angular frowning face and super tan like some surfer dude.

Should be easy enough to remember the difference; just had to hope my brain retained information today. I had a feeling it's going to get a lot to process.

And then there's Grover; he won't even look at me. His chin is almost touching his chest, and I had no idea what to say to him. "Hey guys, can I get a minute alone with Grover?"

Will and Alec nodded their heads and began following the wraparound porch to the other side of the house. Happy boy called over his shoulder, "Make sure you drink all of that."

I glance at the tall glass in front of me. It looks like flat ginger ale and I wasn't sure if I even want to try it. But I remembered the pudding being pretty good, so I chanced it. The initial shock of it not being ginger ale was disgusting. But when my tongue began to taste the blue birthday cake that mom had made for me last year, my eyes began to tear up. I guess Grover saw this because he cleared his throat, but didn't comment.

I quickly used the blanket over my shoulders to wipe away the watery eyes. As soon as I locked eyes with Grover, I jumped up from the chair and threw my arms around him and hugged him tight.

"What… why are… why are you hugging me?" Grover pulled back and looked even more depressed, "You had to protect _me_ , even though it's my job to protect you. And your Mom…"

I knew my mom was gone. I wasn't going to hold onto false hope that it had all been a bad dream. Especially if Grover was standing here looking so guilty and if Will was telling the truth when he said I had been out for almost two days from _serious_ injuries.

"She kind of died a hero's death though, right? Maybe she got into Elysium," I meant the comment to lighten the mood, but it just made my eyes sting again. All the talk from Mom about my dad, demigods and powers had me reanalyzing the other Greek stories I knew. I really hoped that Elysium was real and that my mom had a place there. She _had_ to. I pressed the blanket to my eyes and breathed deep. My mom had died protecting me; I knew she would never have done anything different, even if she had a dozen do-overs.

This time, Grover hugged me.

This actually made me chuckle as we awkwardly embraced. "So I think we've graduated to best friends now. I've never had one though, so I have _no_ idea what it means."

Grover shrugged, "I guess it means, we just keep helping each other; no matter what."

I nodded my head, "Sounds like a plan." I looked out from the porch and saw the pine tree that we had used as a landmark; there were some volleyball courts to the left, and way off in the distance a huge stone thing that looked like a theatre. "Looks like I'm the new kid again; could definitely use a best friend to show me around."

The look on Grover's face looked hopeful, but still sad. He handed me a wrapped up pillow case and then gestured toward my small duffle bag that was tucked under the table. I unfolded the cloth to find a jagged bit of horn spattered with blood.

"This is the Mina…Bull-guy's horn," It was bigger than I remembered. I couldn't quite believe I had torn it from the creature head with only my hands. I re-wrapped the horn quickly and stuffed it into my bag before I threw the duffle over my shoulder and across my body. I threw the blanket onto the chair; it wasn't as cold as it had been before… or maybe that was just my strength coming back.

"How are you feeling now?" Grover asked as he led us around the porch.

"Like I could throw Nancy clear across the library instead of waiting for the window to do it for me," We exchanged smirks.

* * *

"Mr. Brunner?" I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw my old teacher sitting at a small table playing some kind of card game very casually. But as soon as my brain caught up with my eyes, it dawned on me, "That's not really you're name, is it?"

The guilty smile on his face tells me that my suspicions are right. If he's here in this camp for half gods, and Grover and he were trying to protect me… he already knew all this stuff about me. And he was probably like some undercover agent or something.

I turned to Grover, "Why didn't you use a fake name at Yancy?" He shrugged his shoulders as the only response.

"So this is our great bullfighter? What did you say her name was… Persephonie Johnson?"

I face cringed and my body twitched, "Penelope Jackson." And as an afterthought, I added, "…sir."

Grover looked at me with a confused glance; he knew how much I hated my full name.

"What? That was even _worse_ than 'Penelope'" Will and Alec snickered from behind Mr. Bru… well the guy in the wheelchair.

I turn back to my former teacher and the old heavy set guy. The two men are engaged in a card game that seems to be pretty intense. "Ah, that was a pretty good trick you played, Chiron," the older guy offers to the Latin expert. "But this one is much better," He sets down his cards with a wide smirk and 'Chiron,' placed his cards down in surrender.

"Well, played Mr. D." The former faculty member of Yancy academy looks at me, "Well PJ, my real name is Chiron. I'm sure you have questions. If you sit down I'm sure we can manage _most_ of the answers." He motions to the folding chair next to him at the card table and I plop down.

I look between Chiron and the other four guys collected around the table; I slump down in the chair as I notice that everyone's' attention is on me now. I really don't like being the center of attention when I don't understand what's going on… my eyes start to shift around the porch trying to find any scrap of evidence to help me figure out answers on my own.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the older man casually wave his hand over a big crystal goblet in front of him. I watched as the glass began to fill with a deep magenta liquid and the air around the table started to smell of tart grapes.

Chiron cleared his throat, "Remember the conditions of your probation Mr. D."

'Mr. D' narrowed his eyes at Chiron and waved his hand more carelessly over the goblet again. This time the red liquid darkened into a brownish color and bubbles began to rise up the inside of the glass. "Diet coke it is…"

I can feel my eyes widen as my brain tried to process the scene in front of me, "Wait… are you… are you Diony…"

Grover's hand urgently taps me on the shoulder.

"What man? …Oh, OH. Sorry, forgot about the name thing," I look back at the panicked look on Grover's face and frown as I try to think about a way around saying the God's name. "Are you the wine dude?"

Mr. D narrows his eyes at me this time and I can see little flames flare up behind his irises.

"Um, I mean God of Wine! Are you the God if Wine?" I usually don't get scared this easily, but I've never knowingly met a God before. And I'm still a little off from the whole run in with the bull-guy.

The blaze behind the God's eyes faded out a bit and he tipped his head in my direction, "I see you did teach her a _bit_ while at that school."

Chiron laughed and began shuffling the cards again, "More than a bit, I'm sure. Give her a chance and I'm sure she'll impress you."

"Nothing much impresses me anymore, so don't hold your breath," Mr. D snorted and looked over his cards.

Chiron shook his head and locked eyes with me again, "What questions do you have PJ?"

I stare at him as words flash through my brain at a mile a minute. "Well, my Mom explained a bit before she… she died. I know I'm half mortal and half god. But she wouldn't tell me who my father is. Can you tell me?"

"I'm afraid not. I have my suspicions, but it is up to your father to claim you. And until then you will be classified as undetermined," Chiron tried to keep his expression even, but I could see the little uncomfortable shift in his eyes.

"Oh," I didn't realize how much I wanted to know who my father was until people started saying that they couldn't tell me. "Um, ok… well this camp; my mom said it could keep me safe."

"Yes. That we can do. This is Camp Half-Blood. We train and educate demigods here so that they can protect themselves and the world against monsters; much like the half-bull creature that you managed to bring down a few days ago." Chiron gestured toward the pine tree in the distance, "That was quite impressive."

I find that I can't hold his gaze anymore as I think back on the battle with the Minotaur, "Yea, well I had some help…" My voice had gotten really small and I wasn't even sure if anyone heard my response.

I saw the two boys and my satyr friend shifting uncomfortably in my peripheral. "Well, what other questions do you have PJ?" Chiron cleared his throat again and carried the conversation away from the subject of my mother. He looked over his cards and found something to play, but I can tell that he's easily able to multitask so I kept talking.

"Um, so all the stories of the Greek Gods are real and they're here… why _here_?"

Mr. D's forced laughter filled the air, "We have to follow the power, little girl! We follow whoever is able to keep the Gods going; keep our influence alive. Tell me, is there any major city in the United States today that doesn't draw _some_ kind of inspiration from Ancient Greece? What about your national bird? New York has several statues of Greek Gods. Schools all over the country still teach that blasted book the Illiad."

Despite the fact that Mr. D was very angry as he made his rant, I found that he was actually right. There were influence from Ancient Greece and their Gods in tons of places. "So, where did you all relocate? Is Denali the new Mount Olympus?"

I looked around the table; everyone looks utterly confused.

"What? That's… that's the tallest mountain in North America…"

"Yes, of course," Chiron spoke quickly, "Alaska… it's just far too cold for the Gods there. They are actually right here, in New York."

"Oh, I just didn't think any of the mountains around here were tall enough."

"Too true, Pricilla Jacobs! That's why we attached ourselves to the Empire State building. The 600th floor has a much better view than any of the mountain peaks around here," I was so shocked by Mr. D's comment that I didn't even flinch when he messed up my name again.

"Wait…what…?" I'm not proud of it, but my mouth totally fell open and I gaped at him a little.

"HA! I win again Chiron," Mr. D went back to ignoring me and slapped down his cards triumphantly.

"I'm afraid not Mr. D," Chiron laid his cards out with precision and the wide smirk fell from the older man's face.

"Fine." Mr. D turned to face Grover now, "You and I need to speak about your recent work performance. House; now."

I glanced up at Grover as he dropped his head down and shuffled after the wine god, "Is Grover going to be ok? He isn't in trouble, right? It wasn't his fault!" My voice got higher and higher as I spoke. I felt my chest get a little tight as my panic built.

Chiron placed a hand on my shoulder, "No. Dionysus is just grumpy and hates his job as the Head of Camp here. You might say that he was _grounded_ when he was sent here, and he still has a century of time to pay."

"Oh, so he's only in charge of all these kids because he's _in trouble_ with the Gods?" My eyebrows knitted together in confusion, it made no sense to me setting up this camp and then putting someone so reluctant and grouchy in charge.

"Yes, well we all have our flaws." A small smile graced Chiron's face, "Is there any more questions you have for me before we begin your tour?"

I shook my head, "Nothing I can really think of at the moment. Still in shock a little I guess."

My former teacher nods his head in understanding, "That's to be expected." He stretched his arms out above his head and pulled his back. I thought I saw him shift forward with his legs, but that's not possible; Mr. Brunner's legs don't work.

But before I can even finish that thought, my ex-teacher reached down, unlatched something next to his legs and shimmery light covered the lower half of his body as he started to stand up.

He _stood up_!

The lower half of his body kind of unfolded and emerged from the wheelchair with long white and brown things that ended in… hooves?! And then his body kept coming out of the small space like it was some kind of clown car, until an entire horses body stood in front of me. So, _Mr. Brunner_ technically didn't have legs… but _Chiron_ had what seemed to be horses' legs.

"Ok… I might have another question…"

* * *

 _Woohoo! We are chugging right along. I will most likely be posting another chapter this weekend, so keep an eye out!_

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	8. VIII Alexander

_So here's the promised chapter, hope you all like!_

 _Big thank yous to everyone who Followed or Favorited the past few days. You are all amazing and I love you! To liaregie, prince of the seas, and dogbiscuit1967; thank you SO much for your constant support and reviews. I couldn't keep going without you._

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* * *

 **8. Alexander**

I tried not to laugh again as Penelope's eyes got huge at the sight of Chiron finally removing himself from his wheelchair. I think he secretly loved shocking people with his true form; I guess it's how he got his laughs sometimes.

PJ looked almost longingly at the door at Mr. D and Grover have disappeared into and a small weight dropped into my stomach… maybe those strawberries weren't quite ripe yet.

Will and I followed Chiron around while he gave Penelope the tour of Camp. He quickly sidestepped her questions about the Attic and continued to talk to her about how our strawberry fields pay for most of our expenses.

Penelope fumbled with the strap on her bag and looked back at the Big House again, "Grover isn't going to get into too much trouble, right?"

Chiron looked at her with a sad expression, "I would hope not, but I am not in a position to judge. He has very big aspirations, PJ, and this last assignment _did not_ work out as the Council of Cloven Elders would have liked. He lost you in New York, and then there is the fate of your mother to consider…"

"My mother died protecting me. She would have done that whether Grover was there or not!" I can almost feel the anger coming off of PJ; her face set in a hard expression. She's very protective of Grover.

"I know that, Penelope," Chiron placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to try to calm her down, but he retracted his hand quickly as if he wasn't supposed to touch her.

My stomach started getting worse; it felt like I was weighted down with rocks or something. I turned to Will and opened my mouth, but decide it isn't serious enough to bother him with. I'll tough it out; whatever it is.

My mind wandered as Chiron answered Penelope's questions about Camp, the Gods, the Underworld… She had an interesting question about Elysium. PJ was asking something about if Chiron thought her mother could have a place there. Geez, I wish my dad and I had that kind of relationship. We hadn't talked in over seven months now, and it didn't even seem like he missed me at all. Yet here this girl was whose mom had died trying to save her from monsters.

We walked a loop around Camp, Chiron pointed out the stables, armory, training arena and woods. I was pretty impressed with how PJ was taking everything. Her eyes did bug out a bit when Chiron mentioned that the woods were 'fully stocked' though. And she fumbled for words to form the confused question that was probably screaming through her head.

"What… what are they stocked with?"

But Chiron's only answer was a sly smile as he noted that they would need to get Penelope her own armor.

* * *

Our little tour group rounded on the Mess pavilion and Chiron motioned toward the Climbing Wall, Amphitheater and Lake before we made our way over to the cabins.

I chuckled a little as Penelope's mouth fell open.

The cabins weren't extravagant but they were pretty impressive; and they did seem to represent a bit of each God that they were dedicated to. Chiron made quick work of introducing all the cabins and explaining why some of them were empty when PJ questioned it.

When we arrived in front of Cabin 11, Penelope looked a little defeated. I'd seen that look before; _complete_ information overload. I tried to offer her an encouraging smile, but she just frowned in response. I crossed my arms over my chest a little annoyed.

Luke came down the stairs, broad smile in place and shook PJ's hand, "Welcome to the Hermes Cabin. Penelope, right?"

PJ looked a little stunned, but a wide smile soon took over her face, "PJ, actually."

Luke's smile got brighter… if that's even possible.

"Oh, great…" I mumbled to myself.

Will elbowed me in the ribs, "What's with you?"

I shook my head, "Just the same old, same old apparently; another girl falling over herself to talk to Luke."

"Jealous?" Will's eye flashed and a mischievous grin was on his face.

I snorted, "Yea, right. I'm more concerned that it will take time away from my training with Luke. And anyway, she's twelve. It's not like Luke would be interested."

Will didn't say anything; he just kept up with the silly grin.

"I'm afraid I have to leave, PJ. I have an advanced archery lesson to teach at noon." He turned to Will, "Were you still available to assist me today?"

Will nodded happily, "Of course. I'll catch up with you and PJ later then, Alec."

I waved as my friend left to show off his impressive bow skills; and I was left in charge of the rest of Penelope tour.

Luke showed PJ around the cabin and explained the difference between determined and undetermined.

She blushed a little as she admitted that she was undetermined, "How long does it usually take to be determined?"

All the demigods within earshot began laughing.

I glared at anyone who looked in my direction. It's like they couldn't even remember when they were all newbies. I recognized a majority of the campers and I knew that they had all only been here for a few years at most.

Bunch of _hypocrites_ …

* * *

I grabbed Penelope's wrist and dragged her out of the cabin.

I let go of her and stomped over to the lake in silence. PJ followed me; probably because she didn't really know anyone else yet. I walked out to the dock and sat down cross legged on the edge of the wooden platform. Penelope sat down next to me and dipped her sandaled feet into the water as she set down her duffle bag.

"You have to do better than that, Jackson," I tried to keep my anger back because she really didn't know how things worked here.

"What are you talking about?" Penelope's face was scrunched in an annoyed expression now; I guess she realized what she asked was kind of dumb, but she didn't know why.

"Everyone here thinks you're some hotshot demigod because you fought the half-bull. _Everyone_ is jealous of you for being given a chance to do something like that," I try to keep my voice even, but my anger over not being given a quest for so long starts to bubble to the surface.

PJ looks confused and angry now, "They're jealous because I almost got killed? Do they know that my mom DIED because of this _chance_?!"

I smile sadly at her, "That's not really the part that people are focusing on right now. You took out one of the bigger monsters; that's really the only thing that Camp is talking about."

"Yea, because a mortal dying doesn't matter, right?" Penelope's face got kind of red and a warm breeze seemed to have engulfed us.

I throw my hands up to try to slow down her fuming, "No, no. We just deal with death differently. Like you said; we have to hope she's in Elysium. It's just really impressive that you killed the monster. You got to _prove_ yourself. Not a lot of us have been able to do that yet."

Penelope glared at me and looked me up and down, "What do you mean _prove yourself_?"

"Well… we demigods are traditionally heroes. We're supposed to kill the monsters to prove ourselves and make our godly parents proud."

"So we have to do horribly dangerous things to make our godly parents look good…?" PJ looked annoyed again; her eyebrows were drawn together and she was squinting a bit.

"… and to keep the world safe. That's a heroes' _real_ job, right?" I smiled a bit, hoping that I am making some kind of good impression for all us demigods. "From what Grover told us, you're pretty loyal and fight to protect people you care about. That's pretty heroic."

"You… you don't even know me. We've only just met," Penelope looked out over the lake.

I sighed. I get kind of ticked when the new campers think that their story of troubled childhoods and dangerous mishaps is new news. Anger was still bubbling away…

"Yea, well I _do_ know you. You're just like me; new school _every_ year at least, probably kicked out of most of them, dyslexia and ADHD too I bet. Teachers thought you were lazy; the psychologists thought you were messed up. Do the letters float off the pages while you're reading too?" I realize that my voice raised and I probably sounded like some angry old professor, but I didn't care. She needed to know all this stuff.

"Yea… they do… a lot actually." She gazed at me with a blank expression; she was trying to piece the puzzle together, "This happened to you too?"

"It happened to all of us. Every demigod I know has had these issues."

"But, why?" Penelope didn't look confused anymore; she looked at me in almost a curious way.

"We're like this because we're wired differently from mortals. All the misshapes that happened to you were probably caused by monsters trying to get rid of you before you came into your true power. We all have dyslexia because our brains are supposed to be processing Greek, not English. And the ADHD actually helps us think and react better and faster in battle." Long winded speech I know, but might as well get it all out there for her, "We're different."

Penelope nodded her head as if she understood, but I could see that she was still trying to process everything that I had told her.

Unfortunately, she wasn't given much time to process before her first obstacle made an appearance.

"Well, lookie here, a newbie!"

I closed my eyes tight, wishing that I had imagined the voice. I stood up and turned to face the small group, and Penelope followed my movements.

"What do you want Clarisse? Shouldn't you be off polishing your spear or something?" I glance at the girl in front of me and notice that she only had two of her flunkies with her today.

"You know, you're right Chase. I want my spear to be nice and shiny when I run you through with it Friday night," the evil grin on her face doesn't even faze me anymore. Clarisse may be almost a head taller than me, but I've bested her in the last few sparing matches we've had. She's actually a better fighter than I am, but she lets her ego get in the way and I like taking advantage of that.

" _Erre es Korakas_ ," I almost yawn as I say it. I knew this will bug her even more if I did't give her the reaction that she wanted. But what I didn't think about was the fact that if Clarisse doesn't get what she wants from you, she moves onto someone who _will_ offer her the right reaction.

"So who's the runt?" Clarisse turned her full attention to Penelope and poked her in the shoulder hard with an index finger.

I ground my teeth, "This is PJ Jackson. PJ, meet Clarisse daughter of Ares." I made sure not to use Penelope's full name after what she said at the Big House.

"What, like the War God?" Penelope asked as she looked Clarisse over. I think PJ was actually sizing the other girl up.

I hate when Clarisse does this. She really enjoyed bullying and scaring the younger campers; I guess it made her feel better or something. I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes at the War God's daughter, "This is stupid Clarisse; don't do this."

"Stay out of this Owl Boy," Clarisse snapped at me. "From what I've heard, Jackson here can take care of herself. Isn't that right?" Clarisse looked at Penelope with a wicked smirk on her face; she was daring PJ to argue.

"Yea, I can. Want to see?"

But before Penelope could even react, Clarisse had a hold on her neck.

PJ's shock quickly faded and she began to kick and beat Clarisse's arms with her fists as hard as possible. I tried to wretch Clarisse's hand away from Penelope's neck, but she threw me back and I hit the boards of the pier pretty hard and one of Clarisse's 'sisters' held me down.

Penelope looked at me and I saw the anger flood her face again; and I saw the red spread across her cheeks and down her neck.

" _Ow_! What the heck?!" Clarisse pulled her hands back from PJ's neck and began to blow on her finger tips and waved them around like they were on fire. She shot Penelope a shocked glare and resorted to pushing the smaller girl closer to the edge with her forearms. "You must be a kid of Hephaestus, you almost burned me you pyro!"

"Maybe… that _would_ be pretty cool," Penelope tried to hide her confusion. She shifted her stance so she was a little lower to the ground and wouldn't be pushed back as easily again.

"Whatever; that just means you're not one of the Big Three's kids. That just means Alec won't be interested in you anymore, _and_ you'll be way easier to beat," Clarisse took a giant step forward and pushed Penelope back with so much force that it looked like she flew off the end of the dock.

The interesting thing is, Clarisse was pulled into the water after Penelope…

I saw the splash of the water come up higher than it normally would have. It looked like the water _wrapped_ itself around Clarisse and then pulled her under the surface of the water. Penelope was nowhere near the other girl, and Clarisse did not look off balance when she had shoved PJ over the short edge of the pier.

Well, _crap_.

At least now I have an idea of who Penelope's Godly father is…

* * *

 _Decided against the bathroom scene because it felt like it was too big and obviius. I wanted something more subtle to hint at who PJ's Dad is. =)_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' Life as Demigods,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	9. IX Penelope

_Hello! So I will be drifting more away from cannon now. I will make sure to include all the important happenings but maybe with a new environment or new POV. I really enjoy writing this and I hope that you all are having some fun reading it.  
_

 _Thank you so much to the Follow-ers and Favortie-ers this past week. You all are wonderful people and I really appreciate your interest in the story. And to my lovely reviewers: awesomeninja09, prince of the seas, bogbiscuit1967 and liaregie; you are all absolutely amazing and I can't thank you enough for the encouraging words and votes of confidence. We'll just have to see what happens with everything... =)  
_

 _Shameless begging ahead:_ _It was my birthday on Monday, and I would LOVE it if more people took a second to review this little story. Just as a birthday gift... if you feel so inclined... I might possibly love you for eternity...  
_

 _Onward!_

* * *

 **9. Penelope**

The next few days were totally overwhelming… Good, _great_ even… but still very overwhelming.

I could remember the conversation that I had with Alec; it was all about Godly parents and him explaining a bit more about the protection around camp, but it honestly felt like it was another lifetime when we had talked about that. The everyday routine of camp had taken over and _almost_ completely distracted my brain from the sadness of losing my mom and the annoyance of my dad still not claiming me. In my mind, there wasn't the option that he wasn't going to claim me. Mom telling me how much he cared about the two of us was one of the last things she ever said to me, so I refused to imagine a scenario where I remained undetermined.

I mean… if Mom was right about him never forgetting about me and visiting very year for me birthday, why the heck hadn't he given some kind of signal about who he was yet. I was safe at camp now… _right_?

I mean, as safe as a demigod in training could be I guess.

The food was good here, most people seemed as if they genuinely wanted to help me; I was still at the Hermes cabin which was fine, but I did ask Grover to hold onto a few things for me until I was determined. Hermes was the god of mischief and thieves after all…

Alec volunteered to help me with learning Greek, Chiron had tried to show me how to shoot an arrow, and Clarisse unfortunately showed me how to lose at wrestling… Some of the wood nymphs were trying to get me into shape and Will taught me some simple healing tricks for when I inevitably pulled something.

I also started to notice everyone's necklaces since Alec showed me his. He was right; most of the other campers, including all of the councilors, had fewer beads then him and Luke. The college ring on Alec's necklace still had me interested though. And I had tried to get more information out of Alec about his moral dad, but it had only made the guy clam up more. It seemed to me that he needed to talk about it, like I used to with my mom, but I guess the guy isn't really the sharing type.

People still seemed to murmur behind their hands when I walked by. I tried to wave or smile at them; trying to show everyone that I wasn't affected by their gossip but still wanted to show that maybe I was friendly enough to make friends with. I had never had a lot of friends before though, so it was difficult to say if I was going about it the right way or not.

Thankfully I had Grover. And I liked hanging out with Will and Alec well enough to call them friends.

Will and Grover had heard all about the Lake incident and teased me mercilessly about it. Something about their shock over such a small person created such a big wave was repeated a lot, but I didn't mind since that wave had taken Clarisse _out_. And she had left me relatively alone after that, other than the horrible wrestling lessons. The weird thing was Alec always seemed to completely shut down when someone brought up what happened at the Lake. He wouldn't offer any funny perspective of the incident and he actually seemed to avoid the subject like the plague.

I guess it was embarrassed by me or something.

When I asked Grover about it, he just shrugged, "He might not have liked that Clarisse sister pinned him, but no one even cares about that. She's three years older than him and she's almost as big as Clarisse."

Will offered pretty much the same thought, but I could tell he knew more than he was telling me.

* * *

At the end of third day, I was completely exhausted. My brain was full, my muscles screamed and I was honestly surprised I was still walking. It had only been here a little while but I really had grown to love Camp Half-Blood. If my mom had been here, it would have been perfect… but nothing is ever perfect for demigods; or so I'm told.

My favorite place, not surprisingly, turned out to be the beach behind the mess hall. After dinner and whatever activity was scheduled; I wandered out to the sand, which reminded me so much of Montauk, and just sat.

I kicked off my flip-flops, plopped down on my butt, closed my eyes and buried my hands and feet into the sand. I used to do this all the time when I was younger; trying to will myself into becoming one with the beach.

Weird I know, but I was a strange kid.

If you want to get all miserable, it might have something to do with the fact that all the good beach memories I have are with my Mom. I had done this every night since I got to camp. I guess you could say this was my way of mourning. No one had found out about my little spot yet, but I guess I shouldn't have been surprised I couldn't keep it for myself forever.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Alec sounded confused as he stumbled onto me.

"Being depressing and trying to enjoy some silence before I go back to the Hermes cabin," I didn't turn toward him or open my eyes; I just sat there listening to the small waves drift back and forth.

He sat down next to me.

"I didn't say you could sit with me," I opened one eye to see him silently chuckle at me.

"So?"

I turned my head and opened my other eye, "So depressed girls are your thing then?" It took me a lot to hold my mouth steady in a straight line.

Alex looked at me with shocked eyes and gaped at me, "What?"

I burst out laughing, "You are way too easy to rile up, dude; lighten up."

He glares at me, "You are such a brat; you know that?"

I nod my head and just continue to laugh. I guess it was contagious because after a little while, Alec was laughing too.

"I may be a brat, but you're kind of a snob and a know-it-all. So… we all have our faults," I shrug and offer him a kind smile that I hope he finds endearing, because he's one of only three people I can call friend… I can't afford going around and pissing them off.

"Yea, whatever Lake Girl," Alec smirks at me before he turns his attention to the small waves a few feet in front of us.

"Oh, so you're talking about that now?" I raise my voice playfully trying to coax him into bantering with me. It seems to be a favorite pass time of ours over the last few days.

Alec doesn't take the bait though and just continues with his super serious expression and voice, "Do you remember anything from when you were recovering in the Big House?"

I decided to humor him, "Not too much, just small moments. I remember you and Will feeding me that ambrosia stuff. And I remember you making fun of me for snoring."

His lip pulled up slightly, but his voice remained the same, "Do you remember me saying anything about the summer solstice?"

"Yea…" I racked my brain trying to remember the questions that Alec at thrown at me while I was half conscious, "Didn't you ask me if I knew about something being stolen?"

Alec nodded his head, "Yea. Something really important was taken. And from what I've gathered from the satyrs, if it's not returned by the summer solstice something _really_ bad is going to happen."

"But you don't know what was taken?" I thought it seemed kind of stupid not telling people what went missing if you're laying out ultimatums for its return…

"Nope, but whatever it was… I think it was taken right after the winter solstice. Chiron took us, the year-rounders, to Mount Olympus in December and right after our visit was when the weather started getting weird." Alec tilted his head up at the sky with a nervous look.

"Wait, all the wonky weather is because the Gods are pissed about something being taken? Why can't they just get a new… _whatever_ it was?" I still didn't totally understand the God thing; but I did remember some stories about the Gods of Olympus acting like spoiled brats sometimes… I suddenly didn't like that Alec called me a 'brat' earlier.

"I _guess_ it's something that can't be replaced that easily."

I haven't known Alec that long, but I've already caught on to what his annoyed impatient voice sounds like. I guess I should be taking this more seriously though, since it _does_ kind of affect me too, "Ok, so what was your plan? Get info from me, go play hero and then return whatever was taken?"

"Well, there's official steps in between all that… but yea. I wanted to help; I wanted a quest. I thought this might be… that you might be the one who's supposed to help with that," Alec sighed and looked really defeated.

"Sorry," my voice sounded lame even to me. "I wish I knew something; but I don't even know who my Godly father is. How am I supposed to help if I can't even figure out who _I_ am?"

At my comment, the pressure weighing Alec down seemed to ease up a bit, "Well I actually have a theory about that. But I'm kind of hoping I'm wrong…"

"Will says you're rarely wrong, so why are you hoping that you are?" I smirked as Alec shifted uncomfortably beside me.

"If I'm right, I'm not really supposed to get along with you," Alec refused to make eye contact with me.

I snorted, "Well I wouldn't say we exactly get along now. I mean you're my friend, but we do kind of bicker sometimes."

He nodded and smiled, "True. But can you really be friends with someone you've known less than a week?"

"I… I don't really know," I looked at the sand beneath my fingers and shoved my fist into the rough earth, "I've never really had too many friends, so I don't have much experience on the subject." I wasn't looking for sympathy, but I figured I should tell the truth.

Alec didn't say anything.

"Sorry, I forgot guys don't like talking about their feelings," I tried to smile and let Alec off the hook.

We fell into silence again.

Alec broke the quiet this time. He took his camp necklace out from under his shirt and fiddled with the large gold ring, "My dad's a professor at West Point. I haven't seen him since I was seven years old. I haven't talked to him in over seven months."

I was shocked by the personal information exchange that had just happened, "I'm… I'm so sorry."

"Anyway," Alec stood up and brushed the sand off his palms. I guess that was all I was going to get for now. Alec offered his hand to help me up, "Want to test my theory?"

"Sure! Why not?" I made my voice as cheerful as possible, even though I'm absolutely sure that whatever Alec had in mind wasn't going to get me determined. I took his hand and he pulled me up pretty easily; I brushed the sand off of myself and followed him down to the edge of the water.

"Go stand in the bay," Alec looked really tense as he spoke.

I took two steps into the gentle waves, they were a little past my ankles, and turned to face him, "Now what?"

He screwed up his face in concentration; it was actually kind of cute.

"What? Did you think I was going to get swept away or something?" I laughed at his puzzled expression and took another step backwards. The water was an inch or two below my knees now.

Nothing happened.

I mean the water felt nice; not chilly like it usually was off of Montauk, but kind of lukewarm and comfortable I guess. I took another step back and the swaying water began to brush the bottom of my shorts.

"So you don't… _feel_ anything?" Alec asked.

"What should I be feeling?"

Alec scratched the back of his head and sighed like he was irritated, "I don't know; different, powerful?"

I laughed. I felt some seaweed tickle my foot so I stepped to the side to get away from it, "Wait, did you think my Dad was Posid…"

I wasn't able to finish the name because I _somehow_ found the edge of a drop off and sunk into the bay…

* * *

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' Life as Demigods,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	10. X Alexander

_Hey there! Sorry this update is a day late. I was REALLY sick the last few days and it was not fun at all... But anyway, tons better now and ready to write, edit and post again._

 _Thank you to everyone who Followed and Favorite-ed the past week; you guys rock! And of course, thank yous to my Reviewers: A Ham Sandwich, liaregie, prince of the sea, and dogbiscuit1967. You guys are the fuel for my writing machine. =)_

 _Sorry for the cliffy last chapter btw, hopefully this makes up for that. (Let me know what you think!) And Dogbiscuit, you're right of course. I'm hoping to touch on that a bit more in these next few chapters. (And this chapter touches a little on that from Alec's perspective; kind of paralleling the book I hope.)_

* * *

 **10. Alexander**

"PJ!" Oh my Gods; I was wrong…

I ran into the surf and waded out to the spot that Penelope had gone under; carefully feeling for the drop off that she fell from with my foot.

My toes finally curled around the edge.

I took a deep breath and plunged into the chilly water. The cold water shocked my body and I couldn't move for a few seconds, but I quickly forced my arms and legs back to life and opened my eyes under the murky water.

There's an outline of a figure about six feet below me, but it didn't look like it was moving.

I quickly used the edge of the drop off to push myself down and used the momentum to get to Penelope faster. Her hands covered her face but as I wrapped an arm around her I can feel her abdomen moving up and down… she must have been crying… at least that meant she was still alive.

Paddling back to the surface wasn't easy with another person in tow, but I somehow managed to get us both back onto the beach relatively quickly.

PJ was on her back, and she was making strange hiccupping noises; her hands were still covering her face. I sat down next to her and tried to pry her hands away and I was surprised to find her smiling bigger than I've seen her smile all week.

"…You're… you're laughing?"

She looked up at me and tried to stifle her giggling, "I'm so… I'm so sorry… Alec… you were _right_!"

I felt my face scrunch up as I try to understand what Penelope was talking about.

"Alec," PJ continued through her broad grin, "I think… I think you were right about… my dad." She grabbed my soaked through shirt, pulled me toward her and cupped her hand around me ear so I could hear the next sentence perfectly clear as she whispered; "I think my dad _is_ Poseidon."

I pulled back from her grasp and carefully took in her appearance; maybe she swallowed too much saltwater…

"PJ… you almost drowned…" I said the words really slow and tried to not let my concern fill my voice.

"No, that's the _thing_ … I didn't!" Penelope wasn't mad, she was laughing again. She grabbed my hand and had me touch her black hair.

I was completely dry…

Actually, her whole body was completely dry…

"Alec, I was _breathing_ under water. There was some kind of air bubble around my whole body that prevented me from getting wet at all!" She sounded so excited it was difficult to be mad at her for scaring me so badly.

I shivered a bit as I took a seat next to her and folded myself into a tight ball to warm myself up.

"Oh," Penelope looked at me concerned and then glanced at her hands as if she was trying to solve a complicated math problem. "I think I can control my body temperature or something too… I wasn't cold in the water and I'm not cold out here either. Let me try something…" She threw her arms around my shoulders and shut her eyes really tight.

Nothing happened.

"Huh… maybe I can't do it for other people…" She looked kind of upset. "Did I get claimed before you jumped in after me?"

I shook my head, "If you were claimed by the Sea God, I wouldn't have gone in after you."

The last bit of hope seemed to have left her eyes, "Oh… yea… I guess that would make sense."

Penelope slumped down next to me. She looked completely defeated now; all the excitement and giggling had left her.

I had this weird urge to make her feel better, "Well, I mean… it's pretty impressive that you could _breathe_ under water though. If your dad isn't… you know… he's at least one of the really powerful sea deities. Still very cool."

"Yea, I guess so. My mom made him sound really important though. Like _really_ important… I thought if he was _The_ Sea God; that might have been the reason he left her… left me," Penelope looked out over the dark, quiet bay. "Mom told me that my Dad was really powerful, that he was afraid I would be really powerful too and attract too much attention or something… I guess it just made more sense in my head…"

Crap… I really don't know why, but I felt the words spill out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

"Well, maybe your mom was right. Maybe your dad can't claim you because it would put you into even more danger?" I really shouldn't be getting a demigod's hopes up about being determined. Sometimes it _never_ happens.

Penelope turned to look at me and smiled sadly, "Yea, maybe."

My chest tightened.

"Well, I think I need to change into some dry clothes or I'm probably going to get sick or something," I stood up and brushed off as much of the sand as I could. "You coming back to the cabins?"

PJ shook her head, "Not right now. I'll get back before curfew, don't worry. I just… I just need to sit here a little longer."

"Goodnight, PJ."

"Goodnight, Alec." She didn't even look at me while I walked away, but I didn't know what else to do for her other then let her be alone for a while.

* * *

Training the next day started off fun at first. Will decided to try to teach PJ how to shot an arrow again, and she almost shot Chiron in the butt as he walked back to the Big House. She gave Grover and me an embarrassed smile and I tried desperately to keep my laughter under control.

I was supposed to be the serious one.

Will gave up after he almost became the target, "Alright, so I think we've almost _guaranteed_ that you're not a kid of Apollo. But we still need to find a weapon that you can train with without injuring yourself or others." Will pulled at one of his curls. It was significantly shorter than the others and I was surprised that was the only thing that PJ had managed to cut with her horrible aim.

PJ carefully placed her bow and small quiver of arrows on the other side of the training area. It was difficult not to laugh again as Penelope treated them like they were toxic and held them by the tips of her fingers.

"What about a sword?"

Will, Grover, PJ and I turned to face Luke as he entered the arena carrying a handful of different swords. I looked back at PJ and noticed that she was wearing that big stupid grin that she had flashed the first time she met Luke.

My stomach kind of twisted; I must have eaten something bad again.

Luke had PJ test a few of the swords. She acted bubbly and confident, but she wasn't able to find one that fit her small frame. She wasn't weak or anything, but all the swords seemed too long or not balanced right for her.

Penelope looked over at Grover with a strange look in her eye, "Do you think Chiron would let me use that sword he let me borrow at the MET? You know the one I used to destroy that Unfriendly One you tried to convince me didn't exists?"

Grover blushed, "I don't know what sword you're talking about… and it's _Unkindly_ One, PJ."

"Whatever," Penelope laughed as she tried another sword. "I got to use that sword that Chiron used during presentations at Yancy. It was _real_. It's got some weird magic though; apparently it's a pen when it's not a sword."

"Wait, you got to use _Anaklusmos_!?" Grover's mouth fell open so wide I was shocked it was still attached to his head.

"Um, yea… is that… weird?" PJ shuffled a little under the weird stare from Grover. Her eyes got a little wide as she looked around the arena and saw that people were beginning to gather to watch her. I guess people from the other cabins had gotten word that PJ was getting a sword lesson today…

I elbowed the satyr and Grover tried to compose himself, "No… no, just… it's just kind of a famous sword, that's all."

Grover wasn't telling her everything and PJ knew it. She gave him a puzzled smile and tried to brush the subject away. "So… why are there so many people here?"

Penelope looked at Will and me this time; I guess she was afraid Grover wouldn't tell her the whole truth again.

"Well, I think they're here to see if swords are your weapon of choice," Will laughed it off, trying to offer PJ some comfort.

"At least it can't be any worse than me with a bow…" She tried to smile, but we could all see the scared and uncomfortable look on her face.

* * *

Truthfully, PJ wasn't too bad with the sword. Luke found her one that was a little shorter, and even though the grip was a bit too wide for her hands, the balance wasn't too off. She and Luke spared pretty well and smiled and laughed at each other easily… Penelope even giggled once. It was embarrassing to watch and I'm pretty sure the flirting was noticeable to _everyone_.

"Alright, enough playing around though. Time to really see what our Miss Jackson is made of," Penelope grinned wildly at Luke's playful tone, but I knew better. I glared at him as he walked by me to grab a helmet. Luke shrugged and gave me a sly smirk.

This was not going to be good.

Luke lunged and faded at such a quick rate that Penelope lost her stance trying to keep up with him. Even though Luke wasn't moving his footing at all, it looked like he was dancing circles around PJ. He hit her with the flat side of his sword a few times before he began poking her unguarded sides with the false edge of his blade.

I found myself grinding my teeth together. Luke was hard on all the new campers, but even for him this was excessive.

A stupid idea filled my head. I usually don't act so impulsively, but this idea was more of an experiment anyway…

"Solace, can I have your water bottle?"

Will handed it over without a second though, but then protested when I unscrewed the top and dumped all the filtered water out, "Be right back."

I jogged from the area, passed the mess hall all the way to the beach and got back to the arena before Luke decided that it was time to give Penelope a break. She looked terrible. PJ had sweat dripping into her eyes and her face was flushed slightly from the stress I think; but at least she wasn't dreamily grinning at Luke anymore…

Grover leaned over the edge of the fence and handed Penelope a bottle of water.

"No, wait," I pulled Grover's bottle away and shoved Will's bottle into her outstretched hand instead. PJ gave me a weird questioning look, "Do you trust me?"

Penelope shook her head, "I probably shouldn't, but I think I _do_ …" She looked over the bottle and tried to figure out what I had done before she took a big swig of the salty water. PJ shoved the bottle back at me and began coughing. She gagged and spit out most of the water at her feet. Her eyes got really big as she turned to face me. PJ leaned in really close so that she could talk right into my ear and not be overheard, "Did you just try to feed me water from the bay?"

"Um, yea," I chuckled as I pulled back and saw her face still stuck in sheer shock. "How… how was it?"

"It tasted like crap… but… I feel… I feel like I just took a shot of adrenaline or something…" We stared at each other for a few seconds and I silently offered her the bottle again. She took the bottle almost anxiously and forced herself to swallow a gulp of it and splashed some over her face and arms.

"How are you feeling now?" I carefully asked as she readjusted her armor.

Penelope gave me a broad smile, not looking tired at all anymore, "Like I could take on that Bull-guy again." She leaned close to my ear again, "Let me _know_ next time you plan on experimenting on me though. Friends shouldn't leave friends in the dark, right?" She smirked and held out her hand.

I shook her hand firmly, "Right." I mirrored her lopsided smile.

Will and Grover staring at our exchange with confused glances; neither PJ or I had told them about the beach incident, but they could figure out that we were up to something.

We all watched with interest as Luke showed off a more intricate move to disarm an enemy. It involved a tight turn with an empty fade followed by hitting the butt of the opponent's sword with the hilt of your own weapon to disarm them.

Luke showed Penelope in slow motion and corrected her stance twice before he asked her to attempt the maneuver on him.

I've never seen someone pick up a move so quickly before.

PJ spun, faked backward, lunged forward and had Luke's sword flying to the other side of the area before most of the other campers could blink.

Every single person in the arena was silent.

The only thing you could hear was Penelope's heavy breathing, "Was it like that?" She wore a wicked smile.

Luke held his hands up in defeat looking a little confused, "Alright... do that again."

PJ turned to collect Luke's sword and flashed me one of her huge grins before she set up again.

Maybe I _should_ talk to Will about these abdomen pains...

Penelope performed the move three more times before Luke finally surrendered and Chiron called the camp for dinner.

Grover and I helped Penelope take off her armor before we went for food. Most everyone else was already headed to the mess hall so PJ spoke normally so Will and Grover could hear too, "Any more experiments you have planned for me?"

Grover and Will leaned in slightly as they tried to put the puzzle pieces together.

I tried to stay casual as I shrugged my shoulders, "Maybe one or two for capture the flag tomorrow... if you'll be on my team."

* * *

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' Life as Demigods,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	11. XI Penelope

_Hello! So I wanted to update again... I felt kind of guilty about being out of commission for a good chunk of this week, so lucky you guys!_

 _lol, Thanks so much for the Follows and Favorites. And my Reviewers: Prince of the seas, liaregie, dogbiscuit1967, and Moon Light Shadow Night 123; thank you so much for your loyalty and patients while I get this story rolling. _

_Please let me know what you all think of this next chapter!_

* * *

 **11. Penelope**

Oh my God… oops, I meant Gods…

Oh my Gods…

That was the most freaking amazing feeling I've had in my entire life. I mean, it was completely weird and kind of gross that Alec secretly fed me bay water… But it _worked_.

The whole camp was talking about my sword lesson by the time dinner was finished. Luke even seemed pretty impressed after he got over the initial shock of my unbelievably quick learning. The annoying part was, whenever he tried to talk to me about it, I couldn't stop myself from smiling. Good grief… I couldn't really be crushing on some guy I've known less than a week and is, like, seven years older than me… _Right_?

Well, anyway. Alec and Will wanted to spend the afternoon before capture the flag, trying to see if they could bring out some bigger water powers from me. Grover and I walked behind the two scheming blondes as they lead us around the woods to the more secluded side of the beach.

"What do you think they're going to do to me…" I pulled Grover back a bit more so we could talk easily without being overheard.

Grover scratched the three or four strands of stubble that were on his chin, "Well… from what you told me, it seems like your powers are only really activated when they are truly _needed_. Like life and death type situations; there was the Unkindly one, the Mina- you know, falling into the bay, Luke trying to kill you…"

"Luke was _not_ trying to kill me," I felt my face flush at my own words and hoped that the other two boys didn't overhear me. "I was just kind of freaked out… and the water made me stronger, you saw that."

"Yea, it _was_ pretty cool. But you don't have any control over it. And since we still don't know who your dad is, we're still kind of in the dark about everything." Grover gave me a sad smile, but I tried to focus on the positive.

I jerked my head in the direction of the two curly haired blonds way out in front of us and smirked, "So I know I said I trusted Alec yesterday… but I'm starting to… rethink that. Any words of wisdom?"

"Nope," Grover chuckled. "I know for a fact they would never purposefully hurt you though. And Will can heal you up pretty quick if something _unpurposeful_ happens."

I tried to laugh along with the satyr; I'm really not sure why though, the laughter didn't take any of the edge off.

"Oh, I did bring you something though," Grover stuffed his hand into the small bag that was slung over his shoulders. I glanced quickly at his hooves and shook my head; it had only been five days but I'd already gotten used to the fact that my best friend was part goat.

"No way! How did you get this?" I gasped and couldn't keep the huge grin from taking over my face.

Grover wore a sideways smile as he dropped a blue BIC ballpoint pen into my hand, "I _may_ have said something to Chiron about you needing a sword. And I _may_ have told him that you mentioned how helpful Anaklusmos had been at the MET. I am still your Keeper after all; need to keep you all protected. And I can't do that if you don't have a weapon. But be careful, it's just a loaner until the forge can make you your own."

I rolled the pen between my fingers and tried not to cock my eyebrow at the satyr; I knew he wasn't telling me everything again. But since he knew more about this world than I did and he had tried so hard to protect me, Grover had earned my trust…

And he had just gotten me the _coolest_ sword to practice with.

* * *

So… training wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

I failed pretty miserably as I stood in the mild waves and tried to control the water in _any_ way possible.

It was a little better with the sword, or Riptide… I was finally able to translate the Greek etching on the sword itself. It felt amazing having the sword back in my hands; it felt perfect. The weight was balanced, my hand fit perfectly around the worn leather grip and it felt alive under my fingertips.

Will shot blunt arrows at me and I was able to deflect most of them easily. The fuzziness that my brain used to go to, didn't seem to bother me anymore and my mind was able to go into this weird slow motion view that gave me more time to react to the pathways the arrows were taking.

It was actually kind of fun after a while.

Then out of _nowhere_ , Alec barreled into me and knocked me back into the bay.

I really have no idea what happened, but I somehow threw a wall of water up between myself and the would be linebacker. It was a literal _wall_ ; it was about eight feet wide and six feet high and as soon as I tried to touch it, the barrier collapsed back into regular water.

My back and my butt kind of hurt, but I got a good laugh at Alec being completely drenched again.

"So, you can protect yourself with the water but only on pure instinct," Alec mumbled to himself as if he was trying to figure out some complicated math problem. He walked over to Will and they started whispering back and forth again.

Grover came into the shallow water and helped me up, "Wow, you're clothes are even dry."

"Yup! I've decided I'm some kind of mermaid," I chuckle at the weird look Grover is giving me. "And no, I don't mean the sirens of Old Greek myths. I mean the fun, cartoon mermaids, with bright colored hair that sing."

Grover silently 'Oh'-ed at my comment and laughed.

Will and Alec came over to finally let us in on their master plan. I smirked as the older blonde twisted his shirt to wring out more water.

"Alright, so for tonight's capture the flag it's Ares verse Athena. And the Athena cabin has already made alliances with Apollo and Hermes. That will give us the greatest numbers for the fight and probably the most cunning of the campers, but we're going to need something big to take out the brawn of Ares and their allies," it was very strange to hear Alec speak like he was the general of some army battalion. But I guess that's kind of what happens when you're a son of Athena.

"Alright, Wisdom Boy. What's this big thing that you want to use as a distraction?" I casually slung Riptide over my shoulder and waited for them to reveal their crazy plan.

" _You_ are; you're our big distraction," Alec looked at me with this flat expression and I just couldn't take him seriously.

I snorted and burst out laughing, "Are you kidding me? I have next to no experience, how the heck am I going to be a distraction, let alone a _big_ distraction?"

* * *

I hated them.

The both of them.

Stupid, curly blonde morons…

Stupid Wisdom Boy and his Athenian plans…

I was currently standing in the ankle deep headwaters of the creek that flowed right through the forest. It was the edge of the playing field tonight and right in front of friendly territory. Alec said I was going to be the last line of defense; if Ares got their banner and came this way, I was supposed to stop them.

Will and a few of the other Apollo archers were perched in the trees around me, keeping guard and standing at the ready if Alec's experiment went _really_ _wrong_.

This is what I get for telling the guy to not keep me in the dark…

Alec decided that the only way for me to try to get a handle on my powers was to practice and train with them. But since I'm so freaking stubborn, it seemed that my powers only showed up if I felt like I was in danger.

So here I am in what Will described as _controlled_ danger, so that we can see what the heck my stupid powers could do.

Alec was somewhere in the forest grabbing the Ares's red banner under the protection of a Yankee's baseball cap that made him _invisible_.

Yea… that's right… he gets to be invisible while I get served up on a silver platter to the kids of the War God.

The armor I have on at least fit pretty well. The helmet smelled a little funky, but I could see perfectly fine. And Grover convinced Chiron to let me have Riptide for the game; but Alec had taken away my shield. Luke had handed me this great big, round shield that looked like it could have protected me against a nuke… but Alec took it from me and said I needed to focus on making my own shield like I had at the beach earlier.

Oh! And I didn't even tell you the best part! The reason I have set guards instead of just calling out if someone comes my direction, is because Clarisse was overheard at lunch proclaiming to anyone who would listen that she was going to introduce me to her _electric spear_.

"Oh joy, speak of the devil…" I chuckled a little to myself trying to think of what the demigod version of that phrase would be.

"Well, well, well… Hey there _Penelope_ … What are you doing all by your lonesome?" Clarisse had two of her godly siblings in tow and they laughed at the unfunny question.

I felt my protective façade creep up, "Oh! I thought this was all part of the hazing. Was Alec supposed to be here holding my hand through my first capture the flag game?"

The big Ares girl turned to glare at her 'brother' after he snorted at my comeback. "Well I thought they would at least leave you fully equipped. Were all the sheilds too big?"

I spun Riptide around in my hand and made a big show of leaning it back against my shoulder, "I didn't want one. Slows me down too much. I've gotten pretty fast since the wood nymphs started getting me into shape." Only a half lie; I was getting faster at least.

The other Ares girl elbowed the Ares boy behind Clarisse's back and pointed at my sword, "How did you get a magical item? Only godly parents can gift items like that and you haven't been claimed yet."

"We're conducting an experiment of sorts," I swing Riptide around my body in a big sweeping motion and try to show off my minimal control over the weapon. "It's not mine, but it's definitely fun to play with."

Clarisse's siblings take a few steps back; but that only seemed to piss her off more. She took a huge step toward me and I maneuvered around so that she had to follow me into the little river. Clarisse glanced down, but made no move to change her direct course toward me.

I stepped back and got my sword ready to deflect her supersized, scary as heck, electrified spear. I gripped the soft worn leather of Riptides handle as tightly as I could.

The first jab, I sidestepped easily. The second jab glanced Riptide and I had to push up with all my strength to get Clarisse to fall back a step. The third jab was aimed directly at my chest and I somehow caught the prongs with my blade. I held on to the leather covered handle for dear life and used my forearm, which was completely covered in an arm guard, to try to dislodge Clarisse and push her back.

I was able to make the Ares demigod stumble back a little but I got the majority of the leftover force and went splashing into the creek, landing on my back and lost my hold on Riptide.

As Clarisse smirked and began to advance again, I rolled and scrambled to my knees. I instinctively threw my arms up, as if to cover my head and my wall of water reappeared in between me and Clarisse.

I looked down at my hands and felt warmth flood through my body; the tips of my fingers tingled as I knelt there in front of my water shield. I snorted as I noticed an arrow floating in the middle of the wall; it was aimed right at Clarisse's helmet.

Clarisse _snarled_ at me through the few inches of water and pulled back her spear, "I really wouldn't do that!"

But she didn't listen to me.

Clarisse electrocuted herself pretty badly. Her godly brother and sister had to help her up and drag her out of the creek.

Will landed softly next to me with two of his sisters; they were grinning from ear to ear. Before I could make a joke about how happy they were about me getting the best of Clarisse, Luke and Alec sprinted by us and into friendly territory with the Ares banner in tow.

"Nice job, PJ. How did it feel?" Will shook my shoulder playfully.

"Crazy… tingly… scared as heck…" I took my helmet off and started to look around for Riptide.

Everyone else had left the creek area to join the celebration, but Will stayed to help me look for the magical sword that I had lost. Alec joined us and they both began teasing me about loosing Riptide.

I wondered a little closer to the forest as I searched for the sword… that's when I heard it…. that horrible snarling sound again.

I looked around expecting to see Clarisse trying to sneak up behind me, but instead I found the head of a giant black dog.

And he _didn_ 't look friendly.

"PJ, slowly back up. No sudden movements," Alec's voice called to me in a low even voice.

I heard a few of the nearby trees rustle as shadow's disappeared up into the dark lower branches. I took tiny careful steps backward until my foot hit a rock and I stumbled backwards for the third time today.

Alec appeared out of _nowhere_ and stepped in front of me, but the huge dog wasn't distracted. He hurdled the blonde easily and I screamed as he stood over me and sunk his sharp teeth into my right shoulder and arm.

I threw my free arm up and tried desperately to push the dog away from me. I slipped and cut a few fingers on the stupid dogs fangs. The fingers on my left hand began to tingle again and a strange looking wave came up and slapped the dog, dislodging his teeth from me and my armor. I got a front row seat to every Apollo archer's arrow embedding into the underside of the dog's neck.

It hurt so badly, I didn't know what to do. My body was in shock; I wasn't crying, I wasn't even screaming anymore. I just stared at the blood that was gushing from my shoulder.

Alec was at my side again, faster than I thought was possible. He tore my armor off and demanded a shirt from any willing campers, to slow down the flow of blood from the bites. I think I remember Will shouting at Chiron about a med kit, but I'm not completely sure.

That fuzzy place I used to enjoy going to in my head was coming around again…

"PJ, you can't pass out, ok." Alec looked straight into my eyes and demanded I pay attention.

He looks really cute when he's worried…

"Hey, um… _Penelope!_ Talk to me; tell me what hurts!"

I made a disgusted face at his use of my full name, but I answered him anyway, "Well my right shoulder hurts, _obviously_. And my arm kind of stings with pain… Oh and my fingers." I lifted my left hand from the creek and gazed at my fingertips before I shoved them into Alec's face, "I thought I cut my fingers pretty badly, but there's nothing there now… so I must be imagining things too."

Alec stared at my wiggling fingers, at me and then at the creek.

"Do you trust me?"

I tilted my head toward him, "Yea, I thought I already answered that one."

Will came into my field of vision and he looked even more worried than Alec did, "I need you to help me move her."

"What?! No way. I need to get a better look at the wound, I need to clean it and try to repair it," Will was yelling and it was hurting my ears.

I closed my eyes tightly and tried to block out their arguing.

"Just come hold this on her arm so I can move her Solace!"

There were people murmuring all around me and I felt myself being jostled around. Will took the bloody t-shirt and cradled my arm as he kept the bleeding under control. And Alec took my good arm and used it to hold most of my weight as he quickly carried me down the river.

When the water was around my knees, Alec sat us both down, "Take the shirt off of her and help me get her shoulder under the water."

I guess Will finally understood what Alec was trying to do, because they stopped yelling at each other. And whatever it was that they were doing, it was making me feel better.

Alec supported my head as Will gingerly placed my arm and shoulder further into the water.

"OH MY GODS," the numb shock had worn off and screaming seemed like the only logical thing to do. "OW, Ow, ow!"

I began to feel every inch of my body again, and I was able to lift my own head now and I glanced at my shoulder.

There were angry red gashes all over my upper arm and shoulder blade. My t-shirt was in shreds. There were scrapes of skin floating around freely in the water and a huge cloud of blood hovering around me.

… But the gashes were knitting together; closing and disappearing right before my eyes.

"Oh my Gods. What's happening?" I look between Will and Alec, but neither of them seemed to have answers for me.

They're not even looking at me anymore. I stood up and gazed around, but _no one_ is looking at me now…

They're all looking right above my head.

There, about a foot above my head, spun a hologram of a bright green _trident_.

"It is determined!" Chiron's gravelly voice called over all the campers and brought everyone back to attention.

As if on cue, everyone around me fell to one knee.

I looked to Will and Alec for some kind of clue as to what it all meant; but Will just wore a goofy grin and Alec smirked but still looked annoyed.

"Hail, Penelope Jackson; daughter of Poseidon, God of the Sea."

* * *

 _Hmmm... a little longer chapter maybe could sway more of you to leave a few words of review? =)_

 _Really hope you all liked it; again much more original stuff here. Please let me know what you all think!_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
_

 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' Life as Demigods,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	12. XII Alexander

_Hey there!_

 _I just wanted to say how much I appreciate everyone's interest in this little fic. I really hope you are all enjoying reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it. Huge thank yous to Followers and Favorite-ers these past few days. And even more thank yous to my loyal Reviewers: liaregie, prince of the seas, MoonLightShadowNight123, and dogbuscuit1967._

 _ _Dogbiscuit- Thanks! I really like Will and I wanted him to be more involved in my story._ And lovely suggestion... you might be on to something... or maybe you can read minds... We'll just have to see...  
_

 _This one is all Alec!_

* * *

 **12. Alexander**

"You _know_ it doesn't matter," Will smirked at me as we walked to the more advanced archery targets that were set up by the training arena.

"What doesn't matter?" I hadn't really been listening to what we were talking about; my brain had been in hyper drive since last night. We had won capture the flag, Penelope had been mauled by a hellhound, we found out that water heals her up better than ambrosia…

Oh yea! And she got claimed by Poseidon, the God of the Sea, earthquakes, storms and horses.

"That PJ's a child of the Sea God. You're not really going to let some fight between Poseidon and Athena dictate who you're _friends_ with, are you?"

I smiled tightly, "No… well… Ok, I'm trying not to…"

I realize it might sound a ltitle stupid for me to allow a centuries' old fight between two Gods effect who I'm friends with; but the Gods can be easily offended. I wanted to bring honor to my mother and make her proud, and for some reason being friends with PJ made me feel like I'd done something to betray Athena's trust. Will noticed how much I was struggling with this, so he tried to change the subject.

"How was your meeting with Chiron this morning?" Will strung his bow and let fly a perfectly shot arrow. It hit the center of the bullseye… of course.

I huffed a little as I strung my own arrow, "Horribly. He wouldn't even give me a second to speak. He just told me that there would be no more discussing or even mentioning the big prophecy until things had been sorted out with PJ."

My arrow hit the white edge of the target.

I rubbed my hands over my head and tried to clear my mind.

"Since we're on the subject… Do you think someone summoned the hellhound to kill _PJ_?" I felt my stomach tense and I glared at him. Will wasn't fazed by me at all; almost like he expected my reaction, "That's one of the more rational rumors floating around camp."

" _That's_ rational?" I tried to aim another arrow, but it ended up lodged in the ground right in front of the target this time.

"Compared to someone's suggestion that one of the campers thought it was just a regular dog or that Mr. D though it would be funny to see us all freak out; yea, being summoned to kill PJ is at least plausible."

I hated how even Will's voice is while he talked; but I really shouldn't be reacting this badly to everything. We're demigods; bad luck followed us everywhere and there was _always_ something that wanted to kill us.

* * *

The archery practice turned out to be a lost cause. Most of my arrows ended up stuck in the ground in front of the target or lodged into the fence post right behind it. Will and I silently collected the arrows as Penelope came storming into the area with Grover in tow.

"They won't even talk to me, Grover! I packed up all my stuff in complete silence. It's like they're afraid to even _look_ in my general direction," PJ sat down on one of the haystacks that lined the fence. "And cabin three is too quiet. I hate being by myself; it's like being back at Yancy again. And the only reason I got a single room there was because my stupid roommate actually asked for a new person to bunk with..."

Penelope wasn't crying, but she looked close and completely defeated. Her face fell into her hands.

"So I take it you got to move into your new cabin today…" I sat down next to her on the hay bale and twirled one of my arrows around in my fingers.

"Yea, it's huge and empty… I get to make all my own schedules and rules… and I _hate_ it," Penelope's hands fell away and her legs started to bounce up and down as she tried to control the flood of emotion that was crossing her face.

"Well, there hasn't been a child of any of the Big Three in a while… and after what you did last night to Clarisse and what happened with the Hellhound… I don't think anyone really knows what to make of you, PJ," Will, of course, was the voice of reason. I may be considered the smart one, but Will was much better with emotions and reading the situation.

Penelope looked really confused, "Yea, why is that? I thought the Gods had tons of kids with mortals. I mean at least they did in all the myths. Why am I so _special_?"

I involuntarily cringed at the tone PJ used; no one should talk about themselves like that… with so much anger and hate.

I knew that Chiron had sort of glazed over the subject when he told Penelope about the cabins, but I guess he didn't go into any detail about it. I sighed heavily and decided that if Chiron wasn't going to tell her, we had to, "Any child of the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, are way more powerful than regular demigods; like _dangerous_ levels of powerful."

Penelope shifted nervously beside me.

She looked to Grover; as if she needed him to confirm what I said.

Grover silently nodded his head, "A while ago, they decided that the children of the Big Three were affecting the course of world events too much. So they all made an oath that they wouldn't have any more affairs with mortal women. They swore it on the River Styx."

"Sounds…" thunder crashed over our heads, "... Sounds serious…" PJ looked like all the blood had drained from her face. "So, what made them… what forced them to make such a crazy oath?"

"World War II," Will sat down on the ground in front of our hay bail and explained, "World War II can be boiled down to a ridiculous fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon and the sons of Hades. So after Zeus and Poseidon's side won… they kind of bullied Hades into making the oath too; no more demigod children for them."

"And the other two kept their oaths?" PJ looked around at us in complete shock. I guess she was terrified of the idea that her godly father was the only one to fall off the wagon.

"No. Zeus broke the oath about seventeen years ago. He had a daughter with some movie star he couldn't say no to." I really didn't want to talk about this anymore. I knew what the next question was going to be…

"What happened to the girl?"

Will and Grover stared at me. I clinched my fists and took a deep breathe to calm myself. I shared a look with Grover and quickly gave him a sad smile to let him know that I didn't blame him, "Thalia, that was her name… Thalia was faced with a horrible fate. She ran away from home and was chased by _a lot_ of different monsters as she tried to find her way here. A satyr was sent out to guild her and she found two other demigods along the way who helped her fight and survive. But…" my voice cracked, and after I cleared my throat my voice seemed to be gone.

Grover hung his head, "But all three of the Kindley Ones were after us."

Penelope's jaw dropped and her eyes were wide as saucers; she realized what Grover was admitting.

"There was a pack of hellhounds tracking us too. Thalia knew that she was the one that was being hunted; so she told me to take the other two demigods to safety and I crossed them into camp. Thalia fought the monsters back by herself and was mortally wounded. When she took her last stand on the top of Half-Blood Hill, Zeus took pity on his dying daughter and turned her into the pine tree. He saved her spirit. And now she helps to protect the camp. She… she had the greatest power we'd seen in decades, she also had the strongest aura that I'd smelt until… well until you…" Grover paused to look at Penelope's reaction.

To her credit, PJ didn't look frightened at all; she looked pissed. Her forehead was creased and her eyes were narrowed.

She looked terrifying.

"Why was _Thalia_ punished because her Dad couldn't keep his hands to himself? How was that fair?!" Penelope's voice shook as she spoke. "That's why everyone is treating me like a leper, isn't it? They either think I'm too much of a danger myself or that I'm going to attract something just as terrible into camp again."

None of us could look at her.

"Well, _we_ don't think that you're dangerous… you can't seem to fight without falling over, so you're more of a threat to yourself than others," Will somehow cut the tension and got a smile pulling at the edges of PJ's lips.

"Yea, how powerful can I really be if I can't even stay standing?"

I think we all knew that what was being said wasn't completely true. But Grover, Will and I knew that Penelope needed assurances that we were still her friends… and she _really_ needed a laugh.

I have to admit it felt pretty good to see PJ feeling better. Being friends with a Child of Poseidon didn't seem complicated or difficult at all in that moment.

* * *

The next couple days were tough for Penelope. She sat at the Poseidon table in the mess hall by herself a few times, thankfully Grover joined her for lunch the second day and had been eating with her every meal since. All of PJ's training classes were now one-on-one because everyone was too nervous to be around her. Will and I tried to sneak into her classes as much as we could, but we were supposed to stay with our own cabins when it came to the schedules.

Some of her lessons weren't even able to be held. Clarisse wouldn't have anything to do with Penelope. Though I'm not totally clear if that was due to PJ attracting horrible monsters into our safe haven, or from the embarrassment Clarisse still had from the capture the flag game.

Will had suggested drilling Penelope on the climbing wall instead to build up her strength. "It doubles as a great learning exercise for conducting first aid on yourself, PJ," Solace sounded so upbeat by this possibility it was kind of scary.

Penelope widened her eyes but agreed to the training.

* * *

PJ got second degree burns on her right leg after her first go around with the Wall, and Will forced her to address the wound the godly way…

"Ow… ow… ow…" Penelope picked the bits of lava rock out of her scraps and poured a little of the Nectar over the burns on her calf.

Will rolled his eyes, "I've seen you go through so much worse; I _know_ you're just being a big baby." He huffed and walked over to the Wall to train a little himself.

Penelope smirked and called after him, "Never going to let me live the whole hellhound thing down, are you Solace?" She poured a few more drops of the Nectar over her leg.

"I'm ignoring you," Will shouted to no one in particular; though one of the Hermes kids standing next to him looked a bit confused.

PJ silently stuck her hand out in front of me, and it was my turn to roll my eyes, "You know if he finds out, we'll both have to sit through _really_ long lectures about the importance of knowing the basics of demigod first aid. And I've already sat through it twice… it's even worse than it sounds."

But I hand over my water bottle anyway. She took a huge swig of the water and I could see the redness of her leg begin to fade.

Penelope's wore one of her huge smiles, but there was a hint of scheming in her eyes. "Sorry; you guys are just way too easy marks sometimes. Though I guess I shouldn't piss off the only people at camp that even bother talking to me," PJ picked at some grass in front of her and let it catch in the slight breeze that surrounded us.

"They're just… worried. No monster has ever gotten through the magical barrier before," the look on Penelope's face let me know pretty quick that I hadn't helped any.

"So they really are scared of me. They're _all_ scared of me."

I tried to use humor, like Will had, to turn the conversation, "There loss though, right? Just means you're stuck with Will, Grover and me for a while."

I'm surprised to see a smile pull at one side of Penelope's mouth, "Yea… _totally_ the worst thing, ever. A medical prodigy, a borderline genius and an insanely supportive satyr… yea, I think I could do _way_ worse."

The horn sounded singling that it was time for dinner.

Will came down off the wall completely unscathed. He inspected Penelope's healed leg with a strange glare… I'm pretty sure he was on to us, but he didn't say anything. He lead the way over the river toward the Mess Hall.

Grover met us halfway looking pale and twitchy, but he wore a strained smile as he greeted us all. He came up beside me, pulled me aside slightly and mumbled, "Need distraction… PJ can't see…"

Thankfully, I had some experience with Grover's shorthand, "Hey PJ, can you get that ancient mythology book that I lent you. Ben and I got into a debate about something at lunch and I need the book to prove him wrong."

"Yea, sure," She kept walking toward the Mess Hall, but then noticed that the three of us were still stopped a few paces behind her. "Oh, you mean right now? … Um, ok. I'll be right back," Penelope shoved her hands into her pockets and hurried off to her cabin.

When PJ was out of ear shot, Will and I turned to Grover who had dropped his fake smile and now just looked angry and confused. "I found this on the doormat of cabin three when I went to see if you guys were finished with the Wall," Grover handed over a folded up page of newspaper and glanced around nervously as Will and I laid it flat to read.

It was the metro section of the New York Times and the headline read 'Mother and Daughter Still Missing.'

It all seemed normal enough until you began to read the soundbites that the reporter had woven into her article. Soundbites from some horrible guy named, 'Ugliano' who insinuated that Penelope was violent and was probably involved in the disappearance of her mom.

I crumpled up the page until it was a tight, dense ball. My insides felt like they were burning.

PJ was _not_ going to see this stupid paper.

* * *

 _So close to prophecy time and begining the quest!  
_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW! I would love to hear what you all think about where this is going, and I'm open-minded to suggestions. =)  
_

 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' Life as Demigods,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	13. XIII Penelope

_Hello All! Hope you are having a good week. =)  
_

 _Thanks to everyone who has Followed and Favorited this past week; and the Reviewers - Guest, liaregie, Prince of the seas, dogbiscuit1967 and MoonLightShadowNight123 - I love you all! I really couldn't keep moving forward with this story without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  
_

 _So lets see what happens..._

* * *

 **13. Penelope**

I flopped onto my bunk in cabin three and moaned loudly. Since no one else was around though, it didn't really matter.

I was so exhausted, my teeth were even sore. It was such a strange feeling; especially since I had been alert and almost _wired_ just ten minutes ago down at the beach. But I was coming to realize that the more I tested and used my powers the more it drained my energy.

The few days since the capture the flag game, I had gone down to the beach by myself and tried to control the powers that my dad had given me. I finally asked the guys to come with my tonight since I had actually made some progress.

I had really been hoping that after the incident with the hellhound, my powers would be easier to control… boy was I wrong. It seemed like my powers were set on defense mode; probably something that my dad had done to make sure that I didn't attract more attention from monsters than I already did. And shifting gears into offense mode was proving to be a huge struggle.

But I had finally done it!

Well, I had finally shown signs that I _could_ do it.

When we got to the beach, I waded out until the surf was about a foot high around me. I turned to face the beach and slowed my breathing down. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the tingling feeling in my fingers and the gentle waves that were just brushing my knees.

I clutched my hands into slow tight fists…

"Oh my Gods! PJ… are _you_ doing this?!" Grover's voice was so enthusiastic I almost lost my focus.

I kept my eyes closed and tried to keep hold over the water, "Yup. All me, dude."

I opened my eyes finally and took in the shocked expressions of the three boys in front of me. They all grinned wildly at me and I breathed a sigh of relief as I looked down and saw the still water around my feet. It was like the water was a solid piece of blue green glass.

I had _pinned_ down the waves.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw that there was about a fifteen foot area around me where the water was as still as the lake inside camp. I scrunched my face up again to concentrate, and slowly released my fingers.

The water returned to its slow, back and forth sloshing.

"I know it's kind of lame compared to making a water wall, but… baby steps, right?" I laughed as my three friends splashed into the water and started laughing and celebrating with me. Grover picked me up in a huge hug and Will clapped me around the shoulders while offering me a huge grin.

But Alec stood there silent, right in front of me, and smirked. "What? No words of encouragement, Wisdom Boy?"

"Nope, I think these two inflated your ego enough," Alec shrugged, but still wore a lopsided smile.

I laughed at his comment and cocked my head to the side. I narrowed my eyes again and concentrated on a single movement, just to see if I could….

Alec fell backwards into the water and landed pretty hard on his back.

"Oh my Gods… I'm so sorry!" I really hadn't thought it would work. I had only been thinking about bringing a wave up to drench him in sea water. I hadn't meant to knock him over.

But to my relief, Alec's glare only lasted a few seconds. Will effortlessly helped him up and said something that had Alec easily crack a smile and finally offer his congratulations to me.

I felt my ears get kind of warm, but I hoped that it was dark enough that no one noticed.

But now, I was tired and I had no energy left to think about training, powers or weird new feelings I had been dealing with since I got to camp.

* * *

It only felt like a few seconds had passed when I heard knocking at my door.

I squinted my eyes at the sunlight streaming through the sheer curtains of cabin three, and cursed myself for not closing the heavier drapes before I collapsed last night.

'KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK."

The rapping was louder this time and sounded more anxious.

I stumbled over my shoes that I had left in the middle of the floor, but somehow I caught myself before toppling over when I gripped the front door for dear life. I stood up and cracked the door open to find a very jittery looking satyr.

"Grover? What time is it? Have they even called for breakfast yet?" I covered my eyes with my hand trying to shield myself from the rising sun. Grover looked like he was going to be sick, "Wait are you chewing on a can?"

I must have been hallucinating because I saw Grover gulp down the rest of whatever he was gnawing on. He shifted his weight from hoof to hoof and wouldn't met my eyes, "Um… well, it's six in the morning… well, you already know that it's morning… I've been up since before dawn, that was around five thirty today…"

"Grover!" I closed my eyes and tried not to snicker at his rambling, "What's up? Why are you all freaked out?"

He sighed really deeply and finally met my gaze, "They want you up at the Big House."

"Now? What time is it again?" I pulled the door open completely and began rummaging through my few belongings to find some clean clothes to wear. I ducked into one of the tiny closets in the cabin and changed while Grover paced the floor.

"It's around six."

"Why do they want to see me so early?" I almost tripped over the pile of dirty clothes that I had just taken off… geez I needed to clean this place.

Grover stopped pacing, but now seemed to be looking anywhere _but_ at me.

"… Um… Well, Mr. D…" Grover's eyes were going crazy, glancing at the ceiling, floor and out the window in some weird cycle, "Mr. D wants to turn you into a dolphin."

I stared at the satyr and my whole body froze, "Wh… WHAT?"

"Yea, he… it's either that or, you know…"

"No… No, Grover I don't know. What the heck could be worse then turning me into a marine mammal?!" I heard my voice get squeaky as it jumped a register.

"Well, let's just say… it's bad… and I'm sure Chiron won't let him do anything anyway… but yea, thought I should warn you before we get up there."

* * *

We walked in awkward silence up to the huge four story farm house.

Grover led the way around the porch and we stopped right in front of Mr. D and Chiron. They were seated at the card table again, but there wasn't a deck of cards in sight.

It looked like they were having a silent argument. They both stared at each other intensely; though Mr. D was the only one who looked completely pissed off. Neither of the men seemed to be blinking much.

"FINE." Mr. D threw up his hands and turned his blazing gaze at me, "Ah, our new _celebrity_. Peyton Jacobs, nice of you to finally join us."

I didn't even bother correcting him; though it did seem weird to me that Mr. D apparently could remember my initials… yet couldn't remember that I went by PJ.

"Now, I'm sure you've realized by now that you're very existence causes a lot of issues for us," Mr. D glared at me so badly I closed my eyes afraid that I would spontaneously combust if I held his gaze for too long. "I've been informed that I can do nothing to correct this problem because it would go against the whole point of this camp, so I am excusing myself for a meeting and leaving you in the hands of Chiron. Though, when he's through telling you about his _ludicrous_ idea, you'll think my dolphin offer was a walk in the park."

Mr. D. waved his hand in front of him and a can of Diet Coke and a key card appeared out of thin air. As he grabbed for them, he disappeared with a loud 'POP.'

Chiron cinched the bridge of his nose and deep wrinkles covered his forehead; it momentarily looked like his age had caught up to his immortality. Chiron shook his head and quickly brushed away whatever he was thinking about.

"Please sit, both of you."

Grover and I took a seat on either side of our former Latin teacher and I tried to wait patiently for him to explain why the heck I was awake at six in the morning.

"How do you feel your training has been going PJ?" Chiron laced his fingers together and placed them formally in front of him on the table.

"Um, pretty good I guess… I've gotten better with Riptide and my endurance is increasing," I tried to sound positive, but I didn't really feel like I was anywhere as good a fighter as the majority of the kids at camp.

"And how are those solo practices that you have been conducting with your powers?" There was a slight twinkle in his eye as I gaped at him.

"How did you… I… well, I've made a _little_ progress," I hung my head and stared at the table. I wished I could feel more confident about my skills.

"I'm sure Grover and the others have informed you a little about why the Gods may take issue with you, but there are other issues that complicate your situation. And I'm afraid they do make your very existence troubling for most of the Gods." Chiron reached out and rested his hand on my shoulder, "I am sorry about that Penelope."

I swallowed hard; my full name barely registering in my head, "What other issues _are_ there?"

"Zeus and Poseidon have been fighting since the Winter solstice. Zeus is very paranoid and believed that Poseidon had a human hero steal something very valuable from Mount Olympus. Unfortunately Poseidon was greatly offended by the accusations and refuses to convince his brother otherwise," Chiron's voice trailed off. He looked tired as he glanced at me, "And since your father's determination of you, Zeus has decided that you must be the thief."

Realization flooded through my whole body, "That's why the weather has been so wonky, isn't it?! That's why the Kindly One was after me… that's why I keep having weird dreams…" A brief image of two men throwing punches and wrestling on the beach flashed through my head… when did I have that dream?

"Wait, what have you been dreaming about?" Grover's question pulled me out of my own head.

My eyebrows knit together and I shook my head, "I have no idea what they're about. It always seems so random and I can't always remember what happened in them."

"Dreams can be powerful tools PJ, you should heed them and try to interpret their meanings. Demigods dream always have a purpose. But back to the problem at hand," Chiron veered the conversation back on track. "Will you accept the quest, Penelope?"

I stared at Chiron like he had spoken another language, "A quest… me? But I'm not even trained yet; I've barely been here two weeks!"

"Be that as it may; you are the only one who can take on this quest."

"What is the quest?" I wasn't even sure if I wanted to know the answer, but I heard the question fall out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

"You must find what was stolen and return it to Zeus before the summer solstice," Chiron's voice was calm and even, but I saw a nervous twitch pull at his eye.

"What was stolen?" My voice didn't even sound like it was coming from me anymore; I felt like I was having an out of bod experience now. My voice sounded hollow and very far away.

"Zeus's master bolt; the lightning bolt that all his other bolts are designed after."

I began to have difficulty breathing, "But… but I would never steal something like… especially that valuable." Anger and confusion tightened my chest.

"I know, PJ. And that is the reason you are the only one to who can take this quest. Returning the bolt will prove your innocence as well as present yourself in a favorable light to the rest of the Gods," A small smile rested on Chiron's face, and he even _sounded_ a little encouraged.

I took a few deep breathes as I looked between Grover and Chiron. I didn't see any other option, "Ok. I accept the quest. What do I do now?"

"Now, you must go to the attic and speak with the Oracle."

* * *

 _Man, can't wait to show you all next chapter! ... Let me know what you thought of this one first though, Please?_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW! I would love to hear what you all think about where this is going.  
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 _And... keep a look out tomorrow too. =D_

 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' Life as Demigods,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	14. XIV Penelope

_Woohoo!_

 _Thank yous to all who took a gander at the last chapter. Can't thank you all enough for the interest in this story. And liaregie, dogbiscuit1967 and MoonLightShadowNight123 - this chapter is dedicated to you, you loyal, loyal reviewers!_

 _Here it is, as promised. Really couldn't wait to share this one. I really liked it; hope you all do too._

* * *

 **14. Penelope**

It has never taken me so long to climb four flights of stairs.

I probably aged a decade.

Oh dear Gods, help me…

I've read about Oracles. They were crazy women who took a vow of maidenhood and drove themselves past the point of insanity just so some mystical spirit could speak through them… supposedly.

As I pulled on the cord that connected to the attic door, little bits of plaster and dusk fell onto my head. I quickly brushed off the dirt and pulled down the ladder to enter the little space.

The attic itself isn't too bad. It was a finished attic; no beams were exposed and insulation didn't hang loosely around the floor or ceiling. The walls are covered by regular drywall and were painted the same color as the room I had stayed in while recovering when I first arrived at camp. But the items that lined every inch of the shelves and the wide table that was up here were… _strange_ , to put it nicely.

There were blunt swords, rusted shields, weird looking weapons I'd never seen before; there were also a few unique animal skulls and a collection of frightening teeth located on the table. A few disgusting things floating around in jars of formaldehyde sat on a high shelf, and some stuffed heads of what I assumed were _mythical_ creatures hung on the walls.

When I turned to face the only window in the attic, I'm embarrassed to say, I shrieked. There, leaned on a tall bar stool, was a very well dressed mummy. She… I'm assuming it was a she because it was in a pretty yellow sundress with matching shoes and earrings… It was the Oracle; she had to be I guess since there wasn't anything else up here that could be.

I took a tiny step forward with my toe and racked my brain; had Chiron mentioned what I needed to say?

Even before my heal hit the floor, dense green smoke began to fall from the Oracle's mouth. The emerald fog traveled quickly over the floor and formed a perfect ring around my feet. I tried to take a step back, but it was like my shoes were glued to the surface I was standing on.

The green fog quickly rose up and completely covered me, blocking out everything and quickly pulling me into some kind of vision.

* * *

I stood in the middle of a long narrow hall; the ceiling was at least twenty feet over my head. Great scrolling pillars, which were evenly spaced along the room, held up the intricately carved roof. I looked down at myself and saw I was how dressed in a clean white tunic trimmed in bright green and gold. The hem of my dress pooled on the bright marble floor; it was obviously meant for someone taller than me and I was kind of annoyed that even in this weird hallucination I couldn't have clothes that fit right.

A pair of bare feet stepped in front of me, and I raised my eyes until I was level with the woman's gaze. She wore a tunic similar to mine, but her dress was trimmed with elaborate gold embroidery. Her deep auburn waved hair fell to the middle of her back and she wore an eerie smile on her face. But the creepy thing was her eyes; that's how I knew that I was standing in front of the oracle.

The woman in front of me now, looked gorgeous, beaming and alive… but her eyes were exactly as they had been in the attic; cloudy white and glassy, almost as if they were fake.

I had this weird feeling that she was staring at me, even though I couldn't see her irises. I'm not even sure if she had any…

Her creepy white eyes never blinked as I tried to return her gaze. Her lips never moved from their spooky smirk as her airy voice floated into my head.

' _I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of prophecies, loyal priestess of Apollo. Come forth and speak your question.'_

Apparently my voice had run away even though I hadn't been able to move my body.

Her expression didn't change at all. Again she spoke directly into my mind, _'What answers do you seek, Hero?'_

I opened my mouth and practically begged my vocal cords to move, "… I…" I cleared my throat and tried again, "What… what is my quest?"

The Oracle vanished.

' _You shall venture west, and face two misguided gods.'_

I craned my head around and found that the woman now stood behind me. As soon as her voice stopped, she was gone again. This time she reappeared instantly at my right side.

' _You shall return what was lost, against many odds."_

Gone; I looked around and saw her behind me again.

' _You shall be betrayed by one who makes your heart pique.'_

She disappeared again before I could ask what the heck 'pique' meant. The Oracle was now to my left; exactly where she had begun this stupid spinning game.

' _And you shall not save a beloved soul that you unknowingly seek.'_

 _Great_ , that doesn't sound totally depressing… that was sarcasm, just so you know…

The whole hall began to dissolve from the top down; I watched with a blank stare as the Oracle turned back into green smoke and began to blow away.

But before the vison completely disappeared, everything froze.

The wisps of disintegrating Oracle stopped swirling in circles, as did everything around me. I spun, surprised that I was still able to move around the imaginary building, and promptly screeched again after I had made a full three-sixty turn.

A man stood right in front of the remaining bits of the Oracle.

He wore dark blue swim trunks with a nice tan button down that had palm trees printed all over it. He was at least a head taller than me, with jet black hair and vaguely familiar bright green eyes.

Oh, wait… those were _my_ eyes… What? It's not like I stared at myself in the mirror and memorized my own eyes.

"Dad?"

A smile slowly began to spread across the man's face, "Hello, Penelope."

"What… what are you doing here?"

The smile halted, and his face immediately fell into a scowl, "I'm so sorry, for everything… especially this." He took my right hand into his and held my palm open. My dad then placed his other hand gently over my right palm and pressed down firmly.

When he removed his fingers, it looked like a small green trident had been burned across the inside of my hand. It didn't hurt, even though my skin did look a little red around the edges of the mark.

I raised my eyes back to my Dad's face; he wore a horrible, twisted expression like he was in some kind of pain, "Be _safe_ , Child."

Then I felt a weird tingly feeling quickly course from my hand, through my arm and up to my brain.

That's when I started screaming… _again_.

It felt like my head was on _fire_. My brain was boiling and there was nothing that I could do about it. I clutched my head, lacing my fingers tightly into my hair. I'm pretty sure I pulled some of my own hair out. I felt my knees give out as I collapsed to the ground, but I didn't feel myself hit the floor.

Everything went black before that.

* * *

 _Sorry it's a bit short, but that's just where the story decided to end this chapter. What did you all think?_

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 _And... maybe keep a look out again in a day or two... =P_

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 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	15. XV Alexander

_Yay Weekends! Hope everyone is doing well._

 _Tons of love for everyone who Followed, Favorited and Reviewed: liaregie, dogbiscuit1967, and MoonLightShadowNight123. You all are amazing and I cannot thank you enough for the support._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 **15. Alexander**

A scream echoed through my head.

I woke up and groaned loudly when I saw that the clock on the wall said it was only six-twenty-one in the morning.

I rolled over, closed my eyes and tried to turn my mind back off before it really got moving.

But of course… my stupid, ADHD, too curious for its own good brain was awake and began cranking along.

I huffed at myself as I threw off the sheet and found clothes to wear for the day. All of my godly brothers and sisters were still fast asleep, waiting for the morning call for breakfast. That wouldn't be for an hour and a half, and I sighed sadly as my stomach tightened and made a horrible grumbling noise. Maybe I could find something at the Big House to tide me over until breakfast this morning.

"Stupid brain…" I mumbled to myself while I quietly found my shoes and slipped them on.

I left cabin six and was shocked fully awake by the chilly morning air. I folded my arms around myself and jogged toward the huge blue house. I was shocked to find Chiron and Grover at the card table on the porch.

The weird part was they weren't playing anything; they weren't even talking. They both seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. And if their expressions were any indication; they were not the happy go lucky sort of thoughts, they were the anxious and scared kind of thoughts.

"Hey… what's going on?" I asked as I took the empty seat across from Grover. My legs bounced nervously waiting for an answer; the movement made me a bit warmer so I just went with it.

Grover looked to Chiron before he met my gaze. My mentor nodded his head sharply and then returned to his own inner thoughts.

"PJ accepted a quest and is seeking guidance from the Oracle right now." Grover suddenly stood up, "Um, I think I need a drink. Do you want anything Alec?"

"Yea, sure. I'll go with you," I glanced at Chiron, but he was still lost in his own head so we quietly left him and went into the kitchen of the big farm house.

Grover almost sprinted to the refrigerator and pulled two Diet Cokes out. He went over to the sink, popped them both open and began pouring them down the drain.

"Ok… I realize that a quest is kind of nerve racking, but what's with the compulsive chewing," I asked the satyr over my shoulder as I opened the pantry and started scanning the shelves for snack options.

Grover swallowed the crumpled aluminum that was in his mouth, "She screamed almost as soon as she got up there." He took another huge bite and began pacing.

"Wait, PJ screamed?" _Maybe it wasn't a dream after all…_

"Yup… just shrieked to the high heavens... I mean it was short, but still... Chiron wouldn't let me go check on her."

I found a bag of granola with dried blueberries, "Cool. Brian food… Well, you know you can't interrupt someone when they're talking to the Oracle. I'm sure it's fine. She probably just got spooked by something up there." I took a handful of my snack and tossed it into my mouth as I sat down at the small kitchen table.

"You're probably right. There's tons of _weird_ stuff up…"

Grover and I stared straight through the ceiling as a single scream pierced the air again.

"Don't either of you even make a move toward those stairs," Chiron's booming voice called from the porch.

The satyr and I exchanged a worried look. I slumped in the chair and Grover picked up the speed on his pacing.

Just seven minutes later, painful earsplitting long screams filled the house.

Heck… they _probably_ filled the small valley that we were in.

Grover and I didn't wait for Chiron's objection before we bolted around the corner and up the four flights of stairs to the attic. The screaming stopped half way up the third set of stairs and was followed by a heavy thud as something hit the floor _hard_. We sprinted to the folding stair steps that led into the attic and found an unconscious Penelope in a heap on the floor.

PJ wasn't moving at all and her forehead felt like a boiler when I touched the back of my hand to it.

"OW, crap!" I rubbed my hand until the heat died down. "Quick, help me get her to one of the recovery rooms."

Grover grabbed her legs without hesitation as I wrapped my arms gently under her shoulders. We carried her carefully down three flights of stairs and laid her down in the nearest room to the last stair case.

"Ok, you go get Will and I'll get some ice to try to cool her down." Grover nodded and quickly ran from the room. I tried to touch Penelope's head again to gauge if she was getting hotter. Her head felt the same, but when my fingers brushed over the back of her hand I felt the heat rising there too. I checked her arms, shoulder and even her feet… It felt like her whole body was _baking_.

"Damnit," I rushed down to the kitchen again and pulled every ice pack I could find out of the freezer.

I grabbed a towel from the linen closet and draped it over PJ's body before I dumped all the ice packs on top of her. I spread them out so more of her body was covered. And then I went and got a smaller towel and wrapped an ice-pack so that I could hold it to her head.

Will stumbled up the stairs and into the room hauling his med kit in one hand and his shoes in the other, "What the heck happened?" He began running his usual tests with his Apollo gift, but he couldn't get an accurate read on her vitals until about fifteen minutes later when her body temperature finally began to come down.

"Well, she seems alright. She doesn't need anything healed up at least..." Will had this strange expression on his face; I knew that look.

" _But_ …?"

The son of Apollo shrugged his shoulders but didn't move his eyes away from Penelope, "Her vitals all came back normal, _but_ it felt different. … Like I was getting the reading from a completely different person."

I stared at Will, expecting him to continue; but he didn't.

Grover came back into the room with a small glass of nectar, "Chiron suggested that we try giving her just a little bit."

Will nodded his head but was still looking over PJ like she was some unsolvable equation.

I let out a heavy sigh and gently grabbed Penelope's hand. Yea alright… I admit it… I might have a _little_ crush on her. She was cute and brave and actually smart when she wanted to be. And she looked so helpless right now, I felt like a moron for not knowing what else I could do.

So I just held her hand.

"What the…" My fingers brushed some weird calloused, raised skin. I flipped PJ's hand over so that I could see her palm, "What is this?"

Will and Grover leaned their heads together to get a better look at the markings on Penelope's hand.

It looked like a trident.

It was really faint, and almost looked like a healed over burn mark.

Wills eyes got wide as saucers and his mouth broke into a huge grin, "Oh my Gods; I think I know what happened!"

But before Will explained _anything_ about his realization; he ran out of the room, stomped down the stairs and the kitchen door slammed shut behind him.

* * *

 _Yes, sorry... a little short again, but quick updates are good... right?_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _And... I could possibly post again in another day or two. I'm having some fun with other POV... btw...  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	16. XVI William

_Eek! Is this an another chapter?!_

 _Yup! Because I really do love you all and I feel kind of bad about the cliffhangers. So... here you go!_

 _Really can't thank all the Followers, Favorite-ers and Reviewers enough. And_ _MoonLightShadowNight123, yukicrewger2, ALie Black, BlueGreen216, liaregie, dogbiscuit1967 and Prince of the Seas; extra thank yous for your extra time in sending me some kind words and encouraging me to keep going._

* * *

 **16. William**

I stumbled over the door frame as I ran out of the kitchen onto the porch.

"I... I think... think the Sea God blessed PJ. She has a... a trident mark on her right palm," my chest was a little tight from the excitement of the realization as well as me unnecessarily sprinting from the second floor to the porch.

"But blessings do not leave that kind of mark. And they certainly don't make the demigod fall unconscious and run a high fever. Alexander emptied the freezer trying to lower Penelope's body temperature," Chiron looked at me with a concerned expression. He seemed like he wanted to believe me, but he didn't want to get his hopes up.

"I know; it looks terrible. It looks like PJ's been branded with a cattle brand or something… but maybe that's some kind of indication to just how serious this blessing actually was."

Chiron's gaze fell as he pulled on his beard and became lost in thought, "What exactly do you think the Sea God did?"

I bounced a little as I thought about what I was going to suggest. This was something that I had only ever read about in one of the ancient texts; and even then I wasn't sure if it was a real account or just a hypothetical thing. The old medical journal had mentioned something about an unknown demigod's recovery after a blessing from their godly parent. It had left a scaring mark on their hand and a previously undiscovered floating power activated in the patient. The text had said that there was no 'cure' for this kind of visit, and that time had been the only healing available for the unconscious patient.

And this sounded so similar; it was the only thing crazy enough to cause this kind of reaction. "I… I think he bound Penelope's powers. It hasn't been done in... well I actually don't know if it's been done, _really_. But I mean… there hasn't been a child of the Big Three in about fifty years, since the Second World War… and they obviously didn't suppress those guys powers." I began raking my brain for any other kind of information, but Alec was really the one who would know more about this, not me.

"No. It's been eons since something like that has been done. Gods are not supposed to intervene with their demigod children; as you know, it was decreed safer that way for all parties involved. That is one of the reasons that Camp Half-Blood was established. We are supposed to be the way to protect the demigods; train you, look after you, hide you from monsters," Chiron still looked deep in concentration as he spoke to me. His forehead now pulled down and the worried expression looked permanently etched in his skin.

"But…" I didn't know if it was my place to suggest such a thing. Zeus had shown some favor with Thalia though, so why not Poseidon? These were the only demigod children that they had had in half a century. "But, what if Posei… what if PJ's Dad wanted to protect her, wanted to hide her from _everything_ ," My feet shifted nervously under me and I gripped the back of the chair so I wouldn't pick at my nail beds.

Chiron met my eyes and his face shifted from worry to just plain sadness.

He shook his head but said nothing.

I sighed, feeling a little frustrated. Chiron refused to talk about it with Alec; he refused to talk about it with anyone.

Well if he wasn't going to say it, I guess I had to…

"What if Penelope is the one the Great Prophecy is talking about? I've heard Alec rant about it; I have some of the lines memorized actually. It talks about a demigod born to one of the Big Three."

Geez, this is annoying. Chiron was either completely lost in his own head or he was flat out ignoring me. It looked like he was trying to stare a hole through the top of the card table.

My voice got a little louder as I continued to talk, "What if the Sea God was afraid for PJ. What if he thought Penelope was the one the prophecy spoke of and he freaked out. I think that could be a normal reaction for a parent; panic at the thought of your kid being destined for something horrible."

Chiron was still looking at the same spot on the tabletop. I'm not even sure if he was blinking.

Ok, now I'm pissed. I'm pretty sure anyone who was awake could hear me now…

"I think the Sea God bound PJ's powers so that she could remain hidden. He was _protecting_ Penelope. But now that he was forced to claim her and everyone knows about her, there's no point keeping the powers locked away. I think the blessing that PJ got from her Dad was him removing whatever magic he put in place to contain her power."

Chiron slowly raised his gaze and finally looked at me again.

He took a deep breath and nodded his head, "I think you may be correct, William." He laced his hands together and placed them onto his lap, "How long do you think it will take her body to adjust and recover from something like this?"

I shrugged my shoulders and felt my temper slowly die down, "I have no idea. I've only heard about this happening once, and I thought it was just a _story_ … not real… Chiron, Penelope's probably never had her full powers before. I mean she has some kind of weird protective reflex that her Dad build in, and she showed a very small amount of control over some of the water in the bay last night… But we're probably talking about full-fledged Water God powers here. There wouldn't be a point in binding someone's powers if they weren't supposed to be _really_ powerful…"

"And if her body has never dealt with that kind of power, who knows how she will react to its introduction into her body," Chiron's voice was small; almost weak sounding.

"Exactly."

* * *

Grover, Alec and I stayed in the Big House for the next day and a half. We only left for meals or when Chiron asked for an update on PJ.

Penelope's temperature spiked and fell so many times that I was dizzy from removing and reapplying the ice-packs. She alternated between sweating and shivering so much I had to ask two of my godly sisters to come in and change her clothes four times. When PJ's fever broke for the last time, color actually flooded her face and she looked almost normal again; like she was only sleeping. After that, she slipped in and out of consciousness for most of the night, but she still didn't look like she was going to wake up anytime soon. I made Grover and Alec sleep in two of the other recovery rooms while I look the really comfy chair and ottoman in the corner; I was the _doctor_ after all.

I really didn't mind looking after Penelope, she had become a good friend. But it was getting a little scary how much I had to patch the girl up.

I was finally able to get her to swallow a little bit of the nectar, but I didn't want to give her much since there wasn't anything physical to heal. PJ didn't regain complete consciousness until after breakfast the next day. By then the whole camp had heard about what happened… And I'm pretty sure _I'm_ the reason that everyone seemed to actually have the details right this time…

But PJ said it didn't matter how everyone knew; she was just happy that it was over. She mentioned something about just being happy to _not_ have anything to scream about. And she mumbled something about not wanted to step foot in the Big House for a while.

* * *

 _So yea, I'm enjoying the shorter chapters even though they seem to end in cliffhangers more then usual, but still not sure which way I like better._

 _Hope you all enjoyed this weekend of crazy updates; I will probably have to return to once or twice a week now that I've exhausted my surplus of chapters... sorry! Hope you understand._

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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	17. XVII Penelope

_Hello again!  
_

 _Can't thank you all enough for all the Follows, Favorites and Reviews these past few days. You all are freaking amazing! Especially: liaregie, Alie Black, Guest, MoonLightShadowNight123, Dogbiscuit1967 and Princeofthesea. Thanks for taking the extra minute to post some words!_

* * *

 **17. Penelope**

I was really beginning to hate the Big House.

I mean… it was beautiful, and huge… but so far, the only reason I ever stepped foot near it was because I was dying, being threatened or talking to some creepy mummy in a sundress.

My muscles were still a bit sore and my head felt a bit fuzzy around the edges; but since I could walk, I left the house as quickly as possible. No one was around because it was lunch time and even thought I was starving, I made a B line for cabin three instead of the mess hall.

The cabin was still a mess, but I didn't even bother stopping to make a pathway. I put on a set of clean clothes, stashed riptide in my pocket and started making my way out to the far side of the beach.

I may have been unconscious, but I had heard Will explain his theory to Alec and Grover about the mark on my hand. That, and the fact that my Dad looked so upset about everything, gave me the impression that the son of Apollo might be right.

… but I needed to confirm it.

I didn't feel any different; not really. I felt a little stronger maybe, but that's in comparison to being knocked out for the past twenty-four hours or so.

I kicked off my shoes and then uncapped Riptide. I plunged the sword into the sand so it was sticking straight up.

I walked straight into the bay.

As soon as my toes touched the water, my body didn't feel sore anymore. Actually… I felt better than I had felt my entire stay at camp so far. And the deeper I waded into the bay, the stronger the feeling became.

I felt invincible; like I could take on that stupid hellhound head on and kill it myself.

My hands automatically clenched as the familiar tingling feeling began to spread over my fingertips. The feeling continued over my palms, up my elbows, along my torso, down my legs and… I think I even felt it in my toes.

This was insane. The little voice in the back of my head kept telling me that this _wasn't_ going to work, this was stupid…

But I had to _try_.

I locked my gaze on Riptide; I was about twenty feet away from it. The water came halfway up my thighs now and the gentle swells of the bay were brushing my shorts. I plunged my hands into the water and began to imagine exactly what I wanted the water to do.

I closed my eyes, focused all my thoughts and energy into making the water form into what I needed. I slowly lifted my right arm out of the waves, but I could still feel that slippery barrier between my skin and the water. I held my arm out in front of me for a second to make sure that I didn't lose the strange sensation on my arm.

I couldn't help the tiny smile that crept across my face as I opened my eyes.

There, attached to my outstretched arm, was a cylinder of water. It wrapped around my own arm and extended out over the bay toward the beach. At the end of the pole of water, was a stubby but obedient hand. I flexed my fingers and laughed out loud when the water mimicked my movement exactly.

"Looks like full-fledged Water God powers to me."

I moved my arm around to position the water hand over the leather grip on Riptide. I kind of jerked my arm and concentrated completely on the sword handle coming to me, and within a few seconds Riptide was comfortably in my grasp. I wrapped my fingers around the leather and the smile on my face grew even wider.

"Now _that's_ pretty cool…"

* * *

I played around with my newly established powers and tried to practice enough so that they might become second nature. That's how all the others at camp were anyway; their fighting talents seemed to come so naturally… I needed that too. Especially if I was going to go on this crazy quest to recover a lightning bolt that some moron stole from Zeus and is now framing me for.

Yea, I didn't forget about all that… I just needed a little time to myself before I went to talk to Chiron and got ready to leave I guess.

The sky around the camp was beginning to look dark. Black clouds were rolling in and I could hear thunder as I walked back to the Big House. It looked like the clouds were making a circle around camp…

I jogged the rest of the way to the huge four story house; I didn't want to get caught in the downpour. Grover and Chiron were seated at the card table again, quietly discussing something terrible. At least I assume it was terrible because Chiron looked pissed and Grover, even with his darker skin, looked like he was green.

They stopped talking as soon as I stepped foot on the porch, "Hi… So, it looks like we're in for a storm."

"It doesn't… well it's not supposed to… we usually don't get storms inside of the border of camp," Grover looked at me like he was trying to communicate about more then rain.

Chiron cleared his throat and gestured for me to sit down, "What did the Oracle say to you PJ?"

I had some trouble swallowing, "Well, she said I would go west… might come across two gods… But, I will find the master bolt and return it."

My old Latin teacher narrowed his eyes a little, like he had just caught me in some outrageous lie about my homework and a dog, "What else did she say?"

"Nothing really," I made sure to look straight at Chiron's nose so that it didn't look like I was trying to avoid his gaze. "She said some words I need to go look up in a dictionary and then told me something morbid about not being able to save something that I don't even know that I'm looking for… so yea, _totally_ looking forward to this quest…"

Grover still looked like he was seasick, but he managed to chuckled at my sarcasm. The brief laughter actually seemed to calm me down. I smiled at my friend, the satyr, and mothed a quick thanks. He smiled back knowing exactly what I was thanking him for.

Chiron sighed a bit before he returned his eyes to me. He looked me over, clearly weighting what his next question should be but I guess he thought better of interrogating me more. "Keep in mind, PJ, prophecies are never straight forward. They can be interpreted many different ways… suggest many different outcomes."

"So what's the point of them?" I didn't really like the whole mysterious aspect of all this. Why couldn't they just tell me where the bolt was so I could go get it and return it to the God of Gods before he decided to barbeque me? I'm sure there will be plenty of obstacles to mess with me still…

"Because it at least gives you a starting point," Chiron actually looked happy about this; like he was still angry that I had to go on this quest, but he was happy I was learning something… I guess you can take the teacher out of the school…

"Ok great, I go west… what's the plan after that?"

I was completely clueless. The oracle hadn't given me much more information on the direction front, and I wasn't about to go back and try to ask her for more.

"Well, who would benefit from the God of the Sky and the God of the Sea bickering… distracting themselves, wasting their powers on this childish squabble?" I think I actually saw Chiron slip into his teaching state; it would have been funny if this wasn't a possible life or death situation that he was treating like a word problem.

I huffed some air out as I tried to seriously consider the question, "Well, it sounds like someone is trying to weaken them… so that they can maybe take over?" I shook my head, "But who would want to…" I looked at Chiron with huge eyes. "Wait a minute; you can't really think… you're sending me into… into the underworld? You think the God of the Dead is that one who took the master bolt and you didn't tell me?!"

"Unfortunately, yes. You were attacked by a Kindly One and a hellhound; both underworldly creatures and the Kindly ones only answer to one Lord."

"Then why can't my Dad and lightning guy go down there and figure it out themselves?" I began chewing on the inside of my cheek nervously. Was I really going to have to go into the Underworld?!

Chiron shook his head, "It cannot be done that way. Gods cannot enter into another God's domain without an invitation… But heroes can go wherever they please."

Ok… now I was pissed.

"That's why I was brought here? That's why my Dad finally claimed me?!" I felt angry tears well up in my eyes. I hated that I cried when I got angry; it was an uncontrollable issue that I had tried to deal with for years. "So you're saying that my Dad only gave me my powers back because he needs me to run an _errand_ for him."

"No, it's not that simple Penelope." Chiron tried to offer me a tissue but I wiped my face with my sleeve and the inside of my shirt instead. "I… with the information that I have from the Oracle, from Will's research and from your own father… I believe that he never wanted things to come to this. He didn't want you to be recognized as his child. It seems that it was his way of protecting you."

"Yea, I've heard this before. It's the same story my mother told me before she died trying to get me here." I looked around the camp, "She said that _this place_ could protect me. She said you all could train me and look after me."

I pulled the edge of my shirt over my mouth as I wiped away more tears, "But now my Dad needs me to go get a lightning bolt back so that the God of Gods doesn't declare war on him or kill me." I finally help Chiron's gaze again, "Am I close?"

The centaur nodded his head, "I'm afraid so."

I sighed heavily; my thoughts whirling around my head painfully. This past week and a half seemed unbelievable at best. All the things that had happened since my arrival at camp seemed too crazy to be true; but they were… and now I was being called on to do even _more_. And my father was the one who needed me to do all this.

"You knew, didn't you? You knew that Poseidon was my father."

Chiron and Grover shifted uncomfortably in their seats when I stated my father's name. I figured that my dad wouldn't mind if _I_ said it though, so… whatever.

"I had my suspicions. When Grover explained about the library window, it was practically confirmed that you were a child of the Big Three. And after your tumble into the Lake with Clarisse, I was fairly certain of who your father was. That's why I gave you Anaklusmos. It was given to me by the Sea God, but he didn't explain why. I'm assuming it was a precautionary measure set in place so that you had a suitable weapon if the need arose."

I took Riptide from my pocket. The blue ball point pen looked so innocent in my hand, "So this is really mine? I don't have to get one from the forge?"

"No. Riptide is yours. Weald it wisely," Chiron bowed his head slightly; I'm assuming out of respect to my father.

"So, this quest… What's the next step?"

"You must choose your companions. It is traditional for your satyr to accompany you, so that only leaves one…"

"I want Alec and Will to come with us," I blurted the words so fast, I wasn't sure if Chiron understood what I said. He and Grover both looked very puzzled.

"Well, usually a quest only has three companions. You attract less monsters that way," Grover explained as he produced a Diet Coke can from his pocket and began nervously chewing.

"Ok, but I thought only demigods have a scent for the monsters to trace?" I looked between them wildly; waiting to pounce on the ex-Latin teacher when he told me why I couldn't have all three of my friends on this quest with me.

Chiron extended his arm and clasped me on the shoulder in a somewhat comforting fashion, "I suppose four would also work for this quest."

Great!

Great…

… Now I just needed to ask my friends if they wanted to come on a horrible deadly quest with me…

* * *

 _Eek! Sooo close to the quest!_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW! Let me know what you all think!  
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 _*** I LOVE reviews... just fyi..._

 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	18. XVIII William

_Hey there! So yea... sorry, this week's updates got kind of messed up. I work with little kids and got pretty sick this week. Hope this chapter makes up for it!_

 _Anyway, thanks a bunch to anyone who Followed, Favorited and Reviewed last chapter. liaregie, MoonLightShadowNight123, prince of the seas, weallfindlove, and dogbiscuit1967; you all are amazing and I couldn't keep writing without you all. Really... **thank you**._

* * *

 **18. William**

Penelope looked awful when she came to see Alec and me.

Her eyes were a bit puffy and red, but she had this determined scowl on her face that kind of reminded me of Chiron.

Grover stood beside her offering support as she nervously twitched, "Go on. You can do this." He elbowed her gently in the side, trying to encourage PJ to speak.

Penelope sighed heavily, "I'm being framed for stealing the master lightning bolt. So I have to go get it back before the God of God's decides I'm toast… very _crispy_ toast…"

"They really gave you a quest? Chiron actually said you could leave camp?" Alec was _beyond_ excited and he was having a lot of difficulty hiding it. I knew that he had been waiting for a quest for years now, but couldn't he tell that PJ was terrified by the idea?

"Yea, it's going to be pretty dangerous and the Oracle mentioned there might be _two_ not so friendly Gods along the way." Penelope fidgeted a little and I noticed that she had pulled Riptide from her pocket and was rolling it between her fingers. I wondered if she even noticed that she was doing this, "Would you guys come with me? I mean... would you join the quest?"

Alec literally jumped at the chance to be part of the quest. I had to pull on his arm to keep him from bombarding PJ with questions. He looked like he wanted to hug her out of sheer joy.

I wasn't completely sure though… I was only ten after all.

I always liked the idea of a quest, but I've never felt the constant pull that Alec had to impress my godly parent though. Apollo was a bit more laid back. I mean he liked being honored as much as the next God, but I never felt any pressure to make some grand gesture. And my Mom was always pretty fascinated by my healing gift and always said my Dad would be proud of my abilities.

But… I did feel some kind of responsibility to keep my friends safe.

"Of course we'll go. Who is going to keep patching you up if _I'm_ not there?" I put a comforting hand on Penelope's shoulder and tried to lighten the mood with a lopsided grin.

"Thanks, guys."

* * *

It only took us all a few minutes to pack up. Three of us were trained to pack light for quests, and Penelope unfortunately didn't have many things to begin with.

The four of us trudged up Half-Blood hill and met Chiron and Argus by Thalia's tree. Alec did his usual ritual of pressing his hand to the tree and greeting it like his friend could still hear him.

As we were saying our goodbyes to Chiron, Luke came running up the hill.

"Hey! Glad I caught you all before you left," Luke flashed one of his blinding smiles and held out his magical winged shoes to Penelope. "I thought these might come in handy for you; they were pretty useful during my quest."

PJ looked like a tomato as she took the sneakers, "Wow… um, thanks Luke. That's really nice of you."

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from laughing at the scene in front of me. I bit down even harder when I saw Alec cross his arms over his chest and glare at the son of Hermes.

After Luke headed back toward the cabins, Penelope frowned at the shoes in her hand, "I'm not going to be able to wear these, am I?"

Chiron smiled sadly and shook his head, "I'm afraid not. The reason you will be taking the bus instead of a plane is the same reason that using those shoes would not be a good idea."

"It would have been _really_ cool though…" PJ turned to Grover and held up the sneakers, "Do satyrs like flying?"

Grover's face light up like it was Christmas; it wasn't common practice for a keeper to have a magical item. "Yea… I mean, I don't know… are you _sure_?"

PJ nodded and pulled out her blue ballpoint pen, "I'm covered for the magical stuff. Alec has his hat and Will has his magic healing powers."

"Hey, I have a _physical_ magical item too," I pulled the golden arrow from my sling backpack and twirled it around. I couldn't help smirking as the arrow quickly grew into a full size bow and I saw Penelope's jaw fell open. "It's Celestial bronze just like your sword; so it's good for close quarter fighting too," I spun the bow and it turned back into a small arrow that I could easily use as like a knife.

"Where do you keep the actual arrows?" PJ asked a little awe struck.

I turned around and let her get a better look at my backpack. The sling bag was essentially a quiver of arrows with a big pocket attached to the front to help the mist camouflage it, "Never ending supply of arrows and comes with a wide variety of _modified_ arrows too.

Penelope was smirking now too, "You're making my pen-sword look kind of lame, Solace."

"Yea well," I shrug as I put the arrow back into the quiver, "I'm not sure anyone can beat Alec and his invisibility, but we have to try. I'm sure we can find you something cool to carry alongside your size changing sword."

The two of us shared a laugh that grew even louder when Grover finally got the winged shoes on and tried to get himself through the air. Alec was still talking to Chiron and frowning at us as we chuckled.

* * *

We all finished saying our goodbyes to Chiron and made the trek down Half-Blood hill to the van with Argus.

The ride into the city was pretty uneventful. Regular traffic was really the only thing that got in our way, but Alec was still acting very bent out of shape.

"Dude, if you keep this up, she's going to know you like her," I yawned and slumped down on the van bench so that I could lean my head on the back of the cushion.

Alec looked like he wanted to punch me, "I _do not_ like her... I mean like her like _that_." He glanced at Penelope who was seated in the row in front of us with Grover. I was pretty sure PJ had fallen asleep on Grover's shoulder, because she was lightly snoring as Grover chewed loudly on a Diet Coke can. But Alec still whispered as he spoke to me, "Why would you even think that?"

I snorted, "Because I know you… And you looked like you wanted to knock Luke out when he gave PJ his sneakers. You remember Luke, right… the guy you used to love like a brother?" I'm usually not this forward about things like this, but it was almost difficult _not_ to poke fun at it. I knew that Penelope liked Alec too; even if they didn't realize it themselves.

Alec huffed and glared at me. He then pulled out his Yankee cap, put it on and disappeared.

I grinned; _he won't be able to run away forever…_

When we finally got into Manhattan, the sun was starting to set. Argus found a parking spot right next to the Greyhound station and fed the meter as Grover woke up Penelope. We all got out of the van and Alec went with our chaperon to buy tickets.

Grover and PJ started talking about some guy named 'Smelly Gabe' as we waited. Apparently it's Penelope's stepfather, and her mom only married the horrible guy because his smell covered and protected PJ from the monsters.

Wow… talk about sacrificing for your kid…

It seemed like a shadow fell over PJ's face as she looked up and around the city; I couldn't imagine losing my mom like she did.

Alec and Argus came back and passed out the tickets and made sure we had all of our belongings. The tall, hundred eyed man waved his goodbyes and smiled at us all to offer his good luck before he drove away.

We didn't have to wait long for our bus to be called. We were first in line and walked all the way to the back of the bus where I quickly sat down and pulled Grover into the seat next to me. Alec tried to glare at me again as he sat down next to Penelope, but I busied myself with one of my medical books that I had brought along for the ride.

PJ immediately asked Alec why he had been in such a bad mood since we left camp, and he made some stupid excuse about his godly mother and her godly father being rivals. I mean, that was true; but that wasn't the reason Alec's eyebrows were cinched together for most of the afternoon.

Their voices started getting a bit louder as they continued to bicker about saltwater fountains and olive trees. I turned around to shush them, "Seriously guys, they're probably going to kick us off the bus if you two don't quite arguing."

"We're not…" Alec started to say, but he cut himself off. His gaze was glued to the front of the bus and I watched as his eyes grew to the size of saucers, "Oh my Gods."

Penelope, Grover and I looked forward and saw what had made our friend pale so badly.

It was one of the Furies.

She was dressed like some old gypsy woman; covered in scarves and a big poncho that seemed to cover her wings pretty well. And the scariest part was that when she looked over at us; she looked straight at Penelope.

"Why… what… I thought… Isn't it supposed to take them a while to _come back_ after they get killed?!" PJ asked as she slumped down and tried to hide behind the chair.

"Well today is not your day, I guess," I mumbled as I watched the old woman shuffle forward and find a seat at the very front of the bus.

Oh wait… I was completely wrong…

The scariest part about that Kindly One getting on our bus was the fact that she decided to bring her sisters with her.

Grover gulped so loudly it was almost comical, "All… all _three_ of them…"

I turned around and stared at Alec; we shared a look of concern as Penelope groaned.

"So what's the plan, Brain Boy?" PJ quietly asked.

Alec shook his head, "I'll let you know when I know."

* * *

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	19. XIX Alexander

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* * *

 **19\. Alexander**

The bus pulled out of the station and began the slow crawl out of the city. Rain splattered the windows as we sat through the long lights around Penn Station.

My brain began to whirl as I tried to come up with an escape plan. I looked around us, trying to take in as much information as possible. We couldn't use the windows, they didn't open. There was only one exit, and that was at the front where the Kindly Ones were. We might be able to use the emergency exit in the roof, but that was in the middle of the bus and the Furies would probably figure out what we were doing before we even got to the hatch.

"Will they really attack us with so many witnesses around? Isn't there some kind of code to not reveal themselves or something?" Penelope sounded scared but she still looked as angry as she had been while we were arguing.

I shook my head, "There isn't a code like that. The Mist just covers up for them."

"Yea, Mortal brains can't really process what they see through the mist. We can't even rely on anyone to help us, because we have no idea what they'll actually be seeing," Will had carefully slung his backpack over his shoulder and his golden arrow was clutched in his hand.

Grover looked panicked, but I had to give him credit; he was trying desperately to not let PJ see the worry on his face.

And Penelope kept looking at me waiting to hear my grand exit strategy.

I locked eyes with her and I pulled my dagger from its strap around my leg. I looked at her pocket and nodded my head.

PJ got the idea and pulled Riptide from her shorts and stared at it. I knew she was scared; Penelope had only trained for two weeks and the only monster she had really fought before was the Minotaur.

Before I could come up with any comforting words though, we were plunged into darkness as the bus entered the Lincoln tunnel. The Furies suddenly announced to the whole bus that they all needed to use the restroom. I could barely make out the three shadowy forms creep closer to us.

"I got it," I pulled my Yankee cap from my back pocket and shoved it into Penelope's hands. "Put this on and sneak up to the front of the bus. You might be able to get past them without being noticed and then you can get out."

"What?! I can't just leave you guys!" PJ looked at me with this horrible pleading stare; she didn't want to abandon us. "You _have_ to have a better plan than that."

I shook my head and Will agreed, "Right now there isn't. You have to go."

Penelope looked to Grover and he nodded, "Don't worry about us."

She looked completely pissed off, and there was some red around her eyes as she pulled my hat over her head and disappeared.

Grover, Will and I watched as the three Kindly Ones continued to make their way up the aisle. I found that I was holding my breath when one of them turned and stared at an open seat to her left. But thankfully, they decided that it wasn't worth investigating and moved on.

…Wait, they moved on toward us…

"Where is it? Tell us, where!" One of the Furies screeched. They smelled horrible; like some weird mix of rotten eggs and mothballs.

As they got closer, all three of them began to change. The scarves and poncho fell away, replaced with leathery sagging skin and folded scaly wings. Their claws and fangs came out and caught the light at weird angles, as they all began to yell at us and demand that we stop hiding things.

I stood there holding my dagger at the ready when my brain suddenly pulled me under.

Flashes of cyclops took over my mind and the smell of blood filled my nose. I didn't see the bus anymore; I saw Luke and Thalia hanging upside down waiting to be made into dinner. I looked down at my dagger and saw that my hands were badly shaking; my fingers were barley able to wrap around the handle of the blade anymore. I was seven years old again, and my friends were in trouble… what was I going to do… we were all going to die…

"Alec? Alec! Snap out of it; we need you!"

Will's voice pulled me out of the horrible memory. He shook my shoulder hard until my eyes came into focus. I looked at my hand again and it was back to my normal twelve year old size.

Just as the Kindly Ones were closing in around us, the bus took a sharp right turn into the side of the tunnel. The bus sparked and groaned as it traveled against the wall. Every passenger on the bus began to scream as they were violently bounced around and slammed against windows and seats.

We somehow made it out of the tunnel and I looked up at the front of the bus to see the driver struggling to turn the huge steering wheel.

"Dam it, PJ. You were supposed to get off the bus, not crash it…" But I really shouldn't have been complaining. The Furies were concentrating so much on staying upright; they seemed to have forgotten about the two demigods and the satyr right in front of them.

 _BANG_.

Everyone and everything in the bus slammed hard to the right.

The door to the bus opened and everyone, including the driver, bolted outside.

I stood up shakily, still remembering the uncertainty of when I had fought monsters when I was younger.

Will and Grover stood beside me though, and I tried to focus on them as we faced the Kindly ones again.

They had regained their footing and were trying to surround us again. Will shot an arrow right above the head of one of the Furies as she tried to climb over one of the seats to get behind us, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why is that little demigod; you missed anyway," The Kindly One cackled as she pulled the arrow from the cushion and twirled it around in her claw like fingers.

A wicked smile crossed Will's face, "No I didn't."

I was totally confused by Will's triumphant look until I heard the monster begin to scream and curse in ancient Greek. She said a few words I'm not really comfortable repeating…

"What the heck did you do?" I asked as I raised my dagger again so I would be ready for their next move.

"Oh, just an acid arrow; there's a little pocket of acid at the tip of the arrowhead that pops when I hit a target. Must have covered the shaft of the arrow… so when she picked it up…" The evil smile grew wider on his face as he strung another modified arrow.

"You will be punished for this, son of Apollo!" The Kindly Ones all took a step closer to us.

"Hey ugly!" A disembodied voice called from the front of the bus.

All three of the Furies turned around and sneered.

Penelope burst out laughing, but still didn't reveal herself, "You guys do realize that you _all_ just admitted to being ugly, right?!"

The monsters all sneered as they gazed around the seemingly empty front of the bus.

"Show yourself, little half-blood; or your friends will suffer the consequences," the middle Kindly One took a careful step forward and Grover threw a crumpled up can at her to draw her attention back.

"Leave them alone, or I'll destroy what I took." I frowned and shook my head as Penelope took off my baseball cap and materialized, standing on the driver's seat. She popped the cap off her pen and revealed Riptide, almost begging them to advance on her. This was the most reckless... _stupidest_ idea she could have come up with…

Something in me clicked and I settled back into my trained fighter mindset; no more memories flying around my head, "We need a diversion before they get back up to PJ." I looked at Will and he quickly switched out his arrows and lined up another shot.

He shot the arrow right in front of their path back up the aisle, "Shut your eyes!"

Will's warning was almost too late, but thankfully I got my eyelids closed before the explosion of light.

When the light died, I immediately looked at Penelope who had a hand over her face. She lowered her arm and shot us a smirk of approval as she jumped down from the chair.

The Furies had gotten the full blast of the light arrow and were fumbling around; but that didn't stop them from being dangerous. The monster closest to us began to swipe her claws out blindly, snarling and hoping to hit someone. The other two pulled out whips and began throwing the long pieces of leather out carelessly in any direction they could.

One of the whip wielding Kindly Ones hit the Fury in front of us and knocked her to the side of the bus. The other Fury with the whip, somehow found her bearings and was advancing on Penelope and was able to wrap the thin leather around her wrist.

PJ screamed as the whip was pulled tightly around her arm; she almost dropped Riptide. And now the other Fury knew where she was.

Will quickly shot another acid arrow at the Fury holding Penelope, and Grover and I tried to hold back the other one. PJ was freed as the monster was occupied with ridding itself of the burning acid and we all watched as our friend took full advantage of the distraction.

Penelope was kind of amazing to watch. She ducked around the whip again as the Fury wildly threw it in her general direction. She knocked the butt of her sword against the monster's hand and forced it to drop the whip entirely. Then she turned and swung her sword across the chest of the Kindly One and we watched it turn to a cloud of yellow powder.

"NO!" The Fury we were holding back screamed. We had gotten a little distracted by PJ's fighting…

I remembered my dagger and quickly stabbed it into the semi-blind monster as Grover continued to hold it down. And Will made quick work of the third Kindly One with what looked like a bronze tipped arrow.

We all looked at the piles of disgusting yellow powder and then shared a smile as we realized that we just killed the all three of the Furies.

But the celebration was short lived when I began to feel electricity crackle all around us, "Quick! We need to get out of here!"

Grover, Will, Penelope and I sprinted from the bus and got as far away from it as possible. I looked over my shoulder as we got close to the tree line and I saw a huge lightning bolt as it came crashing crashing down from the sky.

The bus _exploded_.

There were more screams and curses from the passengers who had exited the bus before our fight and had assumed that they were safe again.

"Oh my God, must have been something wrong with the engine…" I heard a voice behind me say.

Only we knew who and what had really caused the blast.

* * *

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	20. XX Penelope

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 _And, here we go!_

* * *

 **20. Penelope**

I was shaking… and it wasn't due to the spitting rain that decided to start up as soon as we all got into the thick tree line.

I hated to admit it, but the thing on the bus scared the crud out of me.

At first, it had felt amazing. I knew that it was completely stupid to lie and say I had the lightning bolt… and then threaten to destroy it somehow. And I know that it was reckless to not follow the plan that I had been outvoted on three to one… But during those few minutes when everything around me seemed to slow down and I allowed my instincts to take over…

It had been the first time it all felt _real_.

I had actually felt like a demi-god, maybe even a bit of a hero. I couldn't possibly leave my friends behind to die just because I was walking around with a target plastered on my forehead. The decision had been impulsive and completely ridiculous, but it had worked; I had helped save them.

The problem now was I was beginning to really analyze what had happened. It scared me to think about the power I had felt course through my body and how much I had to rely on that still foreign power to kill the Kindly One. I didn't know what I needed to do to become more comfortable with all of this; it was kind of an out-of-body experience. And though it was _really_ cool; it was equally as terrifying…

And make matters even _better_ ; Alec was pissed.

"Are you _crazy_ PJ or do you just have a death wish?" the son of Athena glared at me with those sharp grey eyes and I almost flinched.

I hated that he accused me of being crazy. It wasn't the first time that had been suggested about me.

… I guess I could have handled it better and not blown up at the guy.

But of all people, I thought he would understand. He was like me. We were both weird half-gods. _Everyone_ probably saw us as crazy… what right did he have to call me that if he was in the exact same boat.

"You know what!" My voice echoed against all the trees that surrounded us. With every word I got louder, and the more I yelled the more I felt my face flood with red hot anger. Alec ignored me and continued to go off about how when plans are set they need to be followed through and now impulsiveness is an easy way to get people killed.

I felt my body go stiff at his insinuation that I could have been to blame if one of them died... I had helped save them! "Yea, Alec; I'm totally bonkers. It's just stupid how much I wanted the only three friends I've ever been able to keep for longer than a week to _not die_. I must be completely insane; you'll probably have to have me committed or something! Don't you think I'd look great in a padded room?!"

BANG.

Alec went flying backwards.

So did Grover and Will for that matter; even though they were a few feet behind me.

I looked around frantically trying to figure out what happened. Alec had gotten the brunt of whatever it was. He was rolling in the grass and rubbing the back of his head. I stared blankly at him trying to force my mouth to open and speak; but my lips wouldn't move. I glanced back at Grover and Will; they were already back on their feet and thankfully didn't seem injured at all.

They were all completely drenched though, while I was bone dry. I looked down at myself and saw that not only was I dry, but I was steaming. Like my body was radiating so much heat that the raindrops were literally vaporizing at the touch of my skin.

What the _heck_ was going on?!

Before any of the guys could say a word, I turned in a random direction and began running.

My temper usually peters out quickly after I unload whatever's been bothering me, so I soon lost the extensive rage and began to fall into horrified fear.

What had I done?!

Jogging footfalls soon came up from behind and fell into step beside me. I didn't even bother looking up; I was pretty sure I knew who it was. He was the only one who knew how my temper worked and probably was the only one not afraid of me right now.

"Are you ok, PJ?" Grover's voice was small but even. I glanced at his nervous smile and tried to return the gesture.

"I'm fine. How are you?" My voice was oddly upbeat and did not sound like me at all.

Grover's laughter got caught in his throat, "Um… I'm good. Just saw something weird happen to my friend, though. Kind of worried about her."

"Oh yea? What did you see?" I was curious but I could feel my stomach performing summersaults as I waited for Grover to explain.

The satyr pulled my arm so that I had to stop and face him. Grover looked at me with so much concern I'm ashamed to say that I broke.

I burst into tears.

I'm not even sure if they were my usual annoying angry tears or actual sad tears.

I'd like to think they were a mixture of both, I guess. Sounds a little better than saying it was all gloomy crying, "Is… is Alec… is he ok? Did I hurt him?"

"No, he's fine. The rest of us might have lost our bags on the bus, but since Will's was attached to his quiver, he still has his stash of ambrosia. Alec will be perfectly fine." Grover stepped forward so that he could put his hands on my shoulders, "What happened PJ?"

I shook my head back and forth so much; I thought I heard my brain begin to rattle, "I don't know! I just… I just got so angry when Alec asked if I was crazy… I hate… I can't… I am _not_ crazy, Grover."

"I know you're not. Alec knows you're not too," He sounded so sure of this that it actually made me feel a little better. I finally looked over my Keeper and noticed just how soaked he was; it wasn't raining hard enough for him to look like he walked through a car wash… twice.

"What… what did you see? When I got angry; what did I do?" I had stopped crying, but my face was probably still a mess.

Grover blew out a quick breathe, "Well, you got all red when you began to yell at Alec. And after he kind of ignored you and kept talking about following orders… it looked like you kind of had this switch turn on. You're whole body looked like it was smoking and you actually began to glow a little bit and before anyone could say anything, you… sort of exploded."

I felt my eyes almost bug out of my head, "What?"

"It wasn't like a _real_ explosion. I mean… It felt like being hit by a wave of water. We were all knocked off our feet, but the only real issue is that we're completely drenched now and don't have any spare clothes." The satyr shook my shoulders a little before letting go, "We're all fine, PJ. No harm done; I swear."

He was trying to be comforting; Grover was trying to not make this into a big deal.

But I was even more scared now. This _gift_ from my Dad was even more powerful than I had originally thought. I felt the blood drain from my face; I probably looked like a ghost now, "Grover… you guys told me… you said that the Big Three made a pact to not have any more children with mortals because they were too powerful. What kind of powers did those demigods have?"

"I'm not sure. I wasn't born yet and people really don't talk about it…" My Keeper looked confused, but after a minute his expression turned to panic, "Why?"

I blinked a few times before I found the will to speak, "What if I can't control my powers? What happens if the Gods think I'm too dangerous?"

Now Grover looked terrified.

"That… that doesn't matter; you _will_ figure it out. We'll find that master bolt, return it to Mount Olympus, and if you still have trouble controlling your powers maybe your dad can…"

Do what? Teach me now to use them, take them away again, let Zeus smite me?

Grover must have noticed the doubt written all over my face, "Maybe he can help you, PJ."

I nodded my head and tried to look hopeful, but I'm pretty sure I failed.

Alec and Will had finally caught up with us, and I was relieved to see that Alec didn't look like he was in pain anymore.

"Sorry, for whatever I did. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's ok, PJ. No permanent damage… and… I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gone after you like that. It's just, without you, there really isn't a quest. And this quest is really important. We could be preventing a hostile takeover," I smirked at the comment, but Alec looked dead serious about what he said. So I just nodded my head and took the lead as we pushed forward again.

* * *

We walked in silence for a few minutes until I stopped without warning and had Will smack into my back.

"What? What is it?" Grover sounded a little panicked. I couldn't blame him; I felt the exact same as he did.

But I was now distracted by the smell of frying oil; frying oil, crispy french-fries and what I was absolutely positive was sizzling beef, "I think I smell hamburgers and fries. Come on!"

* * *

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	21. XXI Grover

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* * *

**21. Grover**

As soon as the rundown gas station came into view, I caught a whiff of something; and not a good smelling something…

It honestly smelled like a combination of dirt, musk and… _cucumbers_?

Yea, so each monster smells a little different; but don't have a handbook that cataloged and identified every sent. And this made me really nervous; I didn't even have a guess about what we were about to walk into…

Well, maybe the monster wouldn't be after us. It's not like monsters really keep up with the current events of the Gods. They might not even know about PJ and who her Dad is. And the smell of frying oil was making my stomach grumble as well… I did leave all my cans on the bus…

Alec and PJ walked a little ahead of me. "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium," I said after they tried and failed to read the red neon sign.

Will walked quietly beside me but was clutching at his stomach as we got closer to the fast-food restaurant smell.

I gave in to PJ, Alec and Will's complaining and agreed to go to the gas station to look for some food and maybe a map to figure out where we are and where we needed to get to for some other form of transportation.

After we crossed the street and got a closer look at the life-sized cement statues though, I began to regret caving so easily. Every statue out in front of the place gave me the creeps. They were all way too life like… and some of them looked like they were in pain.

The final straw was when I found a statue of a satyr that looked exactly like my Uncle Ferdinand. He was a Seeker and hadn't been heard from in years. I lifted my shaky hand and touched a little scar right above the eyebrow of the statue… my Uncle had a scare just like that from an earlier quest he had been on with his demigod charge…

But before I could comment further on why we shouldn't be in this terrifying, smelly place; the door was thrown open and a tall Middle Eastern Woman beckoned us into her little store. Her voice was kind of sickly sweet and made my stomach feel a bit like warm goo.

PJ spouted some weird cover story about the four of us being orphaned circus performers that had been separated from the rest of the troupe. The lady seemed to buy it, so we all followed her inside.

* * *

As soon as I stepped through the doors of the little combo gas station, store and restaurant, my mind went temporarily blank.

It felt like something was sucking the panic and concern right out of my head. It was a really powerful feeling and before I knew it, I was wearing a goofy smile and sitting happily at a cheap fold-up picnic table with the others as we waited for Aunty Em to finish making us food.

Time kind of played tricks on me as I tried to remember why I didn't feel right about this place. I sniffed around but couldn't quite make out any weird smells anymore; the only scent now was the overpowering smell of frying oil.

I nibbled at the fries as the three carnivores almost inhaled the burgers that the old woman grilled up for them. She seemed nice enough; she refused our money when Will offered to pay for the food, she wouldn't let us help cook at all, and she passed me a map without even being asked for one.

But I still didn't feel right about something.

Despite the gentle nagging in my brain about how I was just being paranoid, I turned and watched Aunty Em carefully as she made another batch of french-fries for us. She looked completely normal; she had two arms, two legs, wore a long black dress that covered almost every inch of her body and had a really pretty, intricately detailed green Hijab over her head with a rattlesnake tail tucked behind her ear.

Wait… a _rattlesnake tail_?!

"We have to go now," I pulled the wax paper lining from the fry basket and began to chew on it nervously. I opened Will's backpack and pulled out his magical arrow-bow and shoved it into his hands. "Get ready to run, but we need to be prepared to fight too; just in case."

I looked over my shoulder and saw that Aunty Em was still occupied with the deep fryer, so I quietly stood and tried to pull PJ to her feet, "Come on, we have to go before she gets us too!"

"What are you talking about Grover? She's making us more fries; why would we want to leave?" PJ gave me a weird look and sat down again.

Will laughed as he shook his head, "Yea, Grover. What's up with you? Come sit down and relax. Everything is fine."

"Alec. Alec! You have to believe me," I began praying to the Goddess of Wisdom that I could at least get her son to see reason. "Alec, we're not safe. Look at Aunty Em; see that thing behind her ear?" My whispers came out harsh and panicky; I really needed someone else to see it too.

I looked at Alec's expression and almost cried with happiness when I saw his eyes dilate; he realized what was hanging out of Aunty Em's headdress.

"Um, yea… You know, Aunty Em? We really can't stay much longer. We need to get back to the others. The ringmaster will get worried if we don't," Alec pulled on PJ's arm and forced her to stand up with him. I quickly followed suite and got Will standing. We began to walk slowly around the table and toward the door of the shop.

"We're so sorry Aunty Em, but we really have to go. Thank you for everything. The food was amazing and we are so grateful for everything you've done for us," Alec continued in a calm, even voice as he struggled to keep PJ moving toward the exit.

"By my dears! Please do not leave so soon. Keep a poor old woman company for just a little longer," Aunty Em glided over to us and stood in front of PJ as she spoke. She didn't seem very interested in Will, Alec or me _at all_ anymore.

"No, I'm very sorry. We have to get back," Alec pulled on Penelope's wrist and even wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder as Aunty Em curled her fingers around a stray curl that had gotten lose from PJ's braid.

"But such beautiful bone structure... At least allow me to take a picture of you my dear; so that I may have your features for my very next statue," Aunty Em poured even more sugar into her voice and by the end of the sentence my head was dazed and my grip on Will had loosened.

Alec held his hands to his head and looked like he was in a lot of pain.

The fuzziness in my mind faded quickly as Aunty Em led Penelope to a small stone bench a few yards away. I immediately tried to follow them, but my feet wouldn't move.

It was like I was glued to the floor!

Alec still looked in pain when he turned to glance back at me, "I think she's using some weird spell to lower our guard and control us somehow. We need to get out of here _now_. Can you move at all?"

I shook my head and looked over at PJ again. She was seated on the bench still and listened intently to Aunty Em's every word. The older woman was a bit far for us to catch everything she said, but I heard something about her two sisters and how they went away and now all she had to keep her company was her statues.

"Ok. Um… completely clear your mind and don't think about anything other than moving your foot," Alec mumbled as he closed his eyes and tried to get free.

I focused every thought I had in just lifting my left hoof off of the ground. It almost took a full minute to do, but as soon as my foot twitched upward that spell broke and I was able to move normally again. Alec was able to get out of the spell himself too, but we had to quickly pull Will away from his spot.

Alec and I dragged Will forward; we held him between us since he was still under the spell. Alec muttered his theory into Will's ear as quickly as possible and I saw his eyes slowly return to normal as they refocused on Penelope.

When we got right behind a huge statue of four trolls, we could hear Aunty Em clearly again.

"I just need to position you perfectly my dear Penelope. You have such a beautiful face; so much like Sally. No wonder your father could not resist her," Aunty Em chatted away like they were old friends.

But I saw something change in PJ as her brain processed what the woman had said, "Wait… I never told you… How do you know my name? How do you know my mother?!" Penelope's eyes came into focus right as Aunty Em began to play with the edge of her Hijab.

"Don't look at her, PJ!" Alec and Will raced forward and knocked Aunty Em down as I grabbed Penelope's arm and pulled her behind a statue of dancing gnome girls.

Aunty Em shrieked horribly before quickly collecting herself and returning her voice to its syrupy tone, "Come now Penelope. You must understand… this is not _personal_ , my dear child."

PJ and I looked through the legs of the dancing gnomes and saw the shadow of Aunty Em as she took a step toward us. You could clearly see that her 'hair' was now free of its cloth cover-up and the snakes were stretching out around her.

"Oh my Gods, is that Medu…" I quickly covered PJ's mouth with my hand and placed a finger in front of my mouth to silence her.

A huge crashing sound came from the other side of the store.

Horrible angry hissing accompanied Medusa as she screeched, "What are those little brats _doing_?"

Another crash and I heard something clearly shattering across the floor.

"NO! Stop it this instant!" Aunty 'M' turned around and faced the direction that the destructive noise came from. "Come here my little darlings. Alec, I was going to spare you when I realized who your pretty companion was; but if you continue to destroy my lovelies, I will not be able to let you leave," her sweet voice had returned as she tried to force Alec to obey her, "And Will, I have no ill will toward your father. You can leave right now if you wish; even though you _would_ make a wonderful addition to my collection."

"What is she talking about, Grover?" PJ looked at me with wide questioning eyes.

I shrugged; I had no idea.

But Medusa must have heard her, "Do you not know your Greek myths, my dear girl?" The snakes on her head laughed along as she cackled, "Your dear father was my _one true love_! He said he would move Mount Olympus itself for me; proclaimed that all other women paled in comparison to me. But then Alexander's _dear_ mother, who hates love because she cannot even begin to comprehend it, cursed me into this hideous being."

"Then why would she spare him?" PJ whispered to me as we crawled over to another large group of statues. I glared at her and made a shushing sound.

"Because, Alec's mother may have cursed me... But _your_ mother… She is the _real_ problem. Sally Jackson is such a distraction to my love; she is keeping him away from me. You are the very proof of this!" Aunty M didn't even try to sugarcoat her voice anymore. It was shrill and angry and made my spine shiver. "Penelope, you know your quest is futile. Why be a pawn of Olympus when you know you will only suffer and die in the end. If you allow me, I can end your pain before it even begins. And you can also help a poor old woman grieve for her lost love!"

PJ stared at me and laughed; a completely humorless laugh. "So… psycho ex-girlfriend… thanks Dad." She looked up at the ceiling and glared as Alec and Will stumbled behind our statues.

Will thrust a thick tree branch into my arms, "Here. Use those flying shoes Luke gave you and try to distract her. Keep your eyes closed!"

I nodded my head and stood up, "Maia!"

Wings sprung out from the sneakers and I was thrown into the air. I faced the general direction of Aunty M, leaned forward and began swinging blindly, "This is for my Uncle Ferdinand!" With Will shouting directions to me and my nose also helping to guild, I did make contact quite a few times. Medusa screamed and almost grabbed the branch away from me, "Better hurry up guys!"

I could hear an arrow whiz by right below me; I guess Will was trying to help with distractions too. But unfortunately it distracted me more than Aunty M and she grabbed my stick and flung me across the room. I hit the back wall pretty hard and felt all the air leave my body.

"Grover!" Will screamed.

I groaned in response. I hoped he would take that as 'I'm fine, just focus on killing the thing trying to kill us.'

I shifted forward a little and was able to use one of the windows I was beside to see what was going on. Will was shooting trick smoke arrows while Alec and Penelope were arguing behind a tall statue of a centaur. I saw Alec gesture to PJ's pocket and handed her a shiny green lawn ornament that looked like a crystal ball.

Penelope struggled to balance the green globe in one hand as she uncapped Riptide with the other. PJ used the shiny ball to see Medusa without actually looking at her; I was impressed by Alec's quick thinking… that was much better then closing your eyes.

"You wouldn't harm a defenseless old woman, Penelope. Come, all I want to do is help you. You will meet your end soon enough, why not let me spare you all the anguish that awaits you on your long journey?" Medusa must have been scared because her sugary voice sounded strained, "And also help remove the distractions that keep your father from me."

"Sorry to be the one to tell you, but my mother died protecting me from a monster… And Poseidon still isn't here with you. So I think it's _you_ , not _him_!"

I watched in amazement as PJ skillfully sidestepped Medusa as she swiped her long talons in front of her in blind rage. Penelope took a step forward, just as the monster stumbled off balance from shifting its weight so abruptly, and swung her long blade right across Medusa's neck.

Aunty M was now only a pile a sulfury, yellow dust… and a decapitated head.

* * *

Alec quickly wrapped Medusa's head in the pretty swirly patterned Hajib. Green ooze continued to pool on the floor as Will and I walked over to join the others.

"Why didn't the head disappear too?" PJ asked as she placed the orb on the floor and put away Riptide.

"When you severed her head, it became a spoil of war. Just like your horn from bull-guy," Alec picked up the head and handed it off to Penelope. "Don't unwrap your prize though. It still has the power to petrify you."

We went back to the kitchen and PJ found a plastic bag to put Medusa's head into. She plopped it onto the table where we had eaten and we all slumped down on the benches, completely exhausted from the fight.

"So…" Penelope smirked as she glanced at us all. She almost looked embarrassed, "Apparently it's my _Dad's_ fault that Medusa was totally nuts…"

Alec snorted, "Yea, only because my Mom decided to turn her into a monster in the first place."

Will elbowed me in the ribs and hid a wide smile behind his hands as our other two friends bantered.

"Because, my Dad decided that your Mom's temple was a good place to make out?" PJ began to laugh.

"Ok, you win." Alec was laughing very hard now. He was holding his side and looked a bit in pain, "Medusa, the psycho ex-girlfriend, was your Dad's fault."

We all had trouble holding back the laughter after that.

Alec regained composure before the rest of us, "Alright, Water Girl; what's the plan?"

Something in Penelope shifted; all the humor drained from her face as she stared at the decapitated head in front of us, "…don't be a pawn…" was all she mumbled before she jumped up from the table and disappeared into the storeroom behind the counter.

She returned a few minutes later with one of Aunty M's receipts, some cash, a few golden drachmas, packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express and a box just the right size for the head on our table.

PJ packed up the still oozing skull and filled out the shipping label so it would be sent straight to Mount Olympus. She signed it _'Best Wishes, PJ Jackson.'_

"They're _really_ not going to like that," I shifted nervously. "They'll just see it as disrespectful."

"Yea well… maybe I am trying to be disrespectful," Penelope mused as she dropped a few coins into the provided leather pouch and the package disappeared with a 'pop.'

* * *

 _Woohoo! That one was pretty fun to write. The cucumber thing is actually based on a myth that a rattlesnake den smells like cucumbers... weird I know, but I thought it was funny. And I thought rattlesnakes for M's hair since that's one of the most dangerous snakes in North America (westernized Medusa!) And Alec and PJ arguing with each other at the end didn't feel right, so... I changed it. Hope you liked!_

 _Also; Brain Boy and Water Girl... thoughts?_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _*** Reviews make me happy...  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	22. XXII Alexander

_Happy Friday! (At least here, it's Friday. Happy Saturday to others!)_

 _Thank you so much to everyone who Followed, Favorited and Reviews last chapter. Eek! You all are absolutely wonderful peoples. C123002, liaregie, yukicrewger2, prince of the seas, dogbiscuit1967, and That person; love you guys!_

 _Oh, and I also need to give a HUGE shutout to dogbiscuit who gave me the idea to use Grover's POV. THANKS!  
_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 **22. Alexander**

We thought about staying at the gas station for the night but we weren't sure if Aunty M got a lot of monster visitors; we had all had enough monster encounters for one day.

And the statues were even creepier now that we realized that they used to be real people.

Will and I looked through the station and found two sleeping bags and a bunch of blankets. We had to take a lot of them since there didn't seem to be any pillows anywhere…

After we packed the blankets away in Will's bag, we met up with the others. Grover and Penelope had found a spare backpack, which they loaded up with as much prepackaged food as possible before we set out again.

* * *

That night was pretty horrible.

I've never liked actual camping much. I mean our cabins weren't luxurious or anything, but they had real beds and a stable roof overhead. We even had running water and toilets. But real camping was another story.

The best spot we could find was a littered clearing about four miles from Aunty M's. It was damp and mossy, and made me desperately want a fire. But that was way too dangerous right now. A fire might draw more attention to us and interfere with sleep, which we could not afford right now.

Will and I divided up the blankets and completely unzipped the sleeping bags so that two people could lay on them comfortably. Will took his bronze arrow, threw a blanket over his entire body and curled up into a ball on the sleeping bag we were sharing.

I shook my head and tried not to laugh; he looked pretty funny as a ball of woven yarn with a glinting arrow sticking out on one side. After I handed a blanket to Grover, he activated Luke's shoes and flew up to a wide tree on the edge of the clearing, "Easier to spot trouble," he had said as he flew off. But I could tell something was bothering him as he gazed around the clearing with this look of defeat.

Penelope set up the other sleeping bag and thanked me as she took a blanket from me, "So… pretty interesting first day of the quest…"

"Yea, even though I don't really have anything to compare it to; I'm pretty sure this quest is slowly turning into one of the craziest," I tried to offer a teasing smile, but I'm sure I just looked tired.

We were all exhausted from the day. We had fought the three Furies _and_ Medusa… who wouldn't be completely spent?

* * *

I settled down next to Will and wrapped myself up in the last woolen blanket and tried to get some rest.

PJ had volunteered to take first watch, and I had offered to take second; so I knew I had to sleep now, when I could. But sleep was difficult to find. Even with my eyes growing so heavy, my brain was still running a mile a minute.

The Kindly Ones had seemed kind of restrained when they were circling us on the bus. It felt like that had really _wanted_ to attack us, but they weren't sure if they should… or maybe they weren't allowed to. And when Penelope had said she would destroy the lightning bolt if they didn't leave us alone, all three Furies had completely forgotten about Will, Grover and I.

All they had cared about was PJ…

"I think they want the lightning bolt!" I sat straight up and noticed that I had interrupted Penelope and Grover talking. I think I heard something about Pan and Seekers, "Sorry… I think the Kindly Ones weren't actually after us, they were after the bolt. They didn't even glance at the rest of us when you mentioned that you were going to destroy the master bolt, PJ."

Penelope nodded her head, "Yea. They even turned their backs on you guys; didn't even bother protecting themselves against you. But… didn't Chiron say that the Kindly Ones only answer to the God of the Dead?" PJ looked up at Grover, who nodded his head.

"So why would they be looking for something that their master already had…" Penelope's mouth fell open as she came to the same realization as I had.

"Either the God of the Underworld lost the bolt, or he never had it," I said as Will peaked out from under his blanket.

He frowned sharply as he tried to get his tired brain to concentrate, "Or he was looking for something else entirely."

Penelope, Grover and I turned to stare at the little woven ball with Will's face. "What do you mean?" PJ looked confused now.

In all honest, I was too. I thought we had made progress figuring out that Hades didn't have the bolt, but something told me Will had noticed something the rest of us hadn't.

"Well, you didn't actually mention the master bolt. You just kind of skimmed over that part when you were talking about it to the Kindly Ones," Will yawned loudly and scratched the side of his face.

"I didn't?" PJ looked even more confused now, but after Will mentioned it I began to remember the exact words that Penelope had used.

"Yea, you didn't. You said 'I'll destroy what I took.' You never actually said what you took though." I turned to Will again, "Did you notice anything else?"

The younger boy shook his head and it looked like he was having trouble keeping his eyes open, "Nope. But I have this weird feeling that they were after something else; something more valuable to them then the master bolt."

I smiled at Will as I shoved him lightly so that he would lie down again, "Then go to sleep. You look like a zombie."

Will fell asleep as soon as he settled back on the ground.

* * *

I still wasn't able to get much sleep.

I listened to Grover and Penelope talk a little more about Seekers and how the satyr felt like he needed to find Pan. They talked about where they thought the quest was really going to take us and PJ admitted how scared she was about the prophecy.

"I just… I don't know Grover. I only accepted the quest because I knew that was what my mom would do; that's what she would have wanted me to do." Penelope sighed heavily, "My mom was the bravest person I knew; I mean she died trying to protect me. She'd probably yell a little if she knew how much danger I was putting myself in right now, but…"

"I'm sure your mom would be really proud of you PJ," Grover sounded sad as he spoke, but I couldn't see his face while he was tucked into the shadows of the trees.

"Gee, am I that obvious?" PJ snorted at herself.

"No. But satyrs are more in tune with people's emotions. I could tell what you were feeling because it's… kind of my super power."

Penelope actually let out a small laughed, "Cool. So what else am I feeling?"

"Well, you're physically and emotionally tired. You're kind of scared about what we're going to have to do during this quest. But you seem more afraid of what's going to happen to all of _us_ … I can't really tell if you're afraid of us, or afraid for us," Grover whispered the last line. If I hadn't been trying to eavesdrop so hard, I wouldn't have heard it.

"That's… don't know what you're talking about…" Penelope stumbled as her words seemed to come faster than her thoughts, "I'm afraid _for_ you guys, obviously. I can't lose… I don't want to be the reason you guys die too."

"You can't think like that; it will just drive you crazy. I mean, the prophecy said you were going to get the master bolt back, so that's a good thing. We're going to get through this and fix everything," Grover's voice had taken a weird upbeat tone. It wasn't quite convincing, but he tried. "Get some sleep, PJ. I'll take the first shift."

* * *

Just a few hours later, I was woken up by Will's groans as Grover tried to shake him awake. I couldn't remember falling asleep, and my body didn't feel like it had actually gotten much rest. I looked around and realized that it couldn't be more than a few hours since I heard Grover and Penelope talking; it was my turn to groan.

"Will, you have to wake up. I tried to get PJ up for her watch shift, but she's not… _responding_."

My eyes popped open, "What?"

Grover looked pale and terrified, "Yea… I mean she's breathing and stuff, but I can't get her to wake up. I even tried splashing some water on her face."

Will grabbed blindly for his med kit as he tried to sit up and get himself moving. Grover and I stood close by as Will did some magical diagnoses, "She seems perfectly fine. I can't find anything wrong with her." He looked annoyed as he looked over PJ's very still body. There weren't even the little twitches people normally get while they sleep. The only movement she had was the even rise and fall of her chest and abdomen from breathing.

The fact that she was alive should have made us feel better, but not one of us relaxed after Will declared her 'perfectly fine.' "Do you think… could this be because of something magical?"

Grover and Will looked at me with panicked faces.

Will shook his head, "I have no idea. I'll stay up and keep watch over her. You guys get some sleep."

"No, someone needs to stay up with you if you're going to be focused on PJ. I'll take next watch," I went back and grabbed my blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders. I took out my dagger and went to go sit by the tree Grover had been up in before.

The satyr followed and took a seat on the huge tree roots next to me, "We need a plan to get moving east." Grover, surprisingly, didn't sound tired.

"Yea, I know," I'm usually the one with the plans, so it was frustrating that I had nothing to offer. "We don't have enough money to buy tickets for anything though; I've got no idea how we can get more money. And I don't think we'll make it by summer solstice if we walk."

Grover stood up suddenly and took a few steps to the left; he looked like he had heard something, "Um… I'm going to go exploring for a little while. Just call out when PJ wakes up; I'll make sure I don't wonder off too far."

I nodded my head as I watched the satyr walk off into the thick trees.

* * *

I must have nodded off.

One second I was watching Will place his glowy hands over Penelope for the umpteenth time; and the next second I'm being woken up by screaming and someone calling my name.

As my eyes opened, I noticed that the sun was beginning to rise over the tree line. Will was looking at me; yelling at me to come help him. And PJ was screaming and flailing her arms around.

She almost knocked Will over as I sprinted to them.

"NO!... Get off of me!" Penelope kicked and punched the air as if someone had grabbed her and wouldn't let go. Will and I tried to corral her limbs so she wouldn't hit us or hurt herself. We tried to get her to wake up again, but nothing seemed to be able to pull her from the dream.

Then suddenly, she went stock-still.

Will panicked and said she wasn't breathing. But thankfully she was just holding her breath for some reason, because after two seconds she began screaming again… but this time she was crying too. Will breathed a sigh of relief and ran off to get something else from his medical kit.

I wasn't able to understand what she was mumbling through all her yelling and crying, but I did hear Penelope distinctly say 'Mom' and 'Dad' before her eyes shot open just a few seconds later. She reached out with blurry eyes and threw her arms tightly around my neck.

PJ continued to cry as I awkwardly patted her back and tried to calm her down.

Will came back, with a bottle of water with the word 'salt' scribbled on the side. He sat down just as Grover came running out of the forest. PJ let go of me and wiping her eyes on her blanket as the satyr came up, breathless from his galloping, "What happened? I heard screaming…"

"Sorry," Penelope shrugged and tried to look calm. She took the bottle of water and took a huge gulp of the salt water without even pulling a face, "Bad dream."

We all glared at her; but she didn't elaborate. She was too distracted by our satyr friend, "Grover… what's that pink thing?"

* * *

 _PJ's dream will be explained next chapter in great detail, don't worry! And next chapter will only be a day or two out, promise. Let me know what you all think!_

 _liaregie - thank you! fan girl moments are always encouraged. And credit for the nicknames go to prince._

 _dogbiscuit - OOooo, I like those for other nicknames. Is it ok if I use those? Always could use more silly names for them to call each other._

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _*** I REALLY like reviews...  
_

 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	23. XXIII Penelope

_Hello!_

 _Thank yous all around to everyone who Followed, Favorited and Reviewed last chapter. liaregie, prince of the seas, MoonLightShadowNight123, C123002, Pretzelina, and dogbiscuit1967; you guys are wonderful and I hope you know how much I appreciate each of you.  
_

 _Sorry it was a little longer wait then expected. Editing went a bit longer then I thought it would..._

* * *

 **23. Penelope**

Grover said that he would take first watch and he told me to get some rest while I could. I tucked my arm under my head as I laid down, and before I knew it, I was out.

Everything we had talked about; Pan, how he wanted to become a Seeker, all my emotions… all of that went completely silent as sleep pulled me under.

* * *

It was a really strange feeling.

I felt like my brain was being rebooted like a computer.

At first all I saw was blackness. All around me was dark emptiness, and I couldn't see anything at all.

I wasn't sure how long I stood staring at the nothingness, it felt like hours before the little flame of light appeared at my feet. I reached down and tried to pick up the tiny candle, but before my fingertips even got close, the light exploded like one of Will's sunlight arrows.

At first I was a bit blinded, but suddenly everything came into sharp focus and I found myself standing in the clearing where I had just laid down to sleep.

Everything looked normal. But as I looked around I noticed that the clearing was completely empty; Will, Grover and Alec were nowhere to be found and all of our sleeping bags, blankets and supplies had disappeared.

I was _all alone_.

I panicked slightly before I remembered that this was dream, and the others were still back in the _real_ clearing… probably.

A huge gust of wind came through trees. It began pulling my long hair free of its brain and whipping it around my head. Something suddenly grabbed me around my waist and quickly jerked me forward. I took a shaky step and felt air whirl around me as I saw some random landscapes of mountains and trees rush past. The scenery started flying by so quickly that it became just wild blurred colors.

And just as quickly as it had begun; it stopped.

I looked around and saw that I wasn't in a little field anymore. I was somewhere much, much worse.

This place made my skin crawl. It felt like fear was physically seeping into my pores.

There was a gigantic chasm right in front of me. I leaned forward very carefully and looked over the edge. I couldn't see the bottom; it just looked like a deep, dark endless hole.

A huge gust of wind came from the chasm and knocked me back onto my butt. The air swirled around randomly, like it had a mind of its own. It whirled around me, and then quickly spun away toward the center of the giant pit.

I watched as the swirl of air collected itself into a tight ball and darkened to almost ink black. The air began to spin so fast that it almost looked like a solid entity now; like a dark scary over-sized shadow.

It slowly morphed and adjusted itself into a giant swirling shadow-head; scary and imposing…

I didn't recognize him, but the smoke-man did look familiar somehow. If he hadn't been bald and maybe if he could crack a smile, he might have looked a little bit like my Dad. But as soon as the shadow thing began to speak, it lost all resemblance to my father.

The voice was just as deep as Poseidon's, but there was no warm spark there. His voice didn't have a single kind note in it; the voice sounded hollow and distant as it spoke to me. I completely missed the first thing it said because I was so distracted by the haunting voice that was coming from the head.

I blinked my eyes rapidly and shook my head to focus my thoughts. This was bound to be important, so I needed to pay attention.

"I said; hello, Penelope Jackson. At last, we meet," The shadow man's mouth didn't move when he spoke. It made him even creepier. I twitched slightly when he said my full name, but the annoyance I felt didn't seem to lessen the fear creeping up my spin. I couldn't show this thing how scared I was though…

I felt my smart aleck mask slip into place and I smirked, "Nice to meet you…. I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name."

The statue-fog-head chuckled darkly, "My name is unimportant at this juncture, my dear demigod."

"Then... what is important?" My words wavered slightly, but I swallowed back the voice crack as best I could.

There was a moment of silence.

Even though his misty black eyes weren't moving, I could feel them looking over me. He was sizing me up; and a flicker of anger flared up from my chest.

"So young, so weak, so impertinent… I'm not sure if you are going to live up to your destiny. There is so much you don't know, little hero."

Those words made me feel like a heavy weight had begun pressing down on my shoulders. I stood up a little taller, so he didn't notice. But I guess my mask slipped a little because he began to laugh.

"Yes, yes; there is much you don't know, child. It seems they have left out very valuable information. Information that could change your entire quest," the voice rang in my ears and sent a chill down my neck. But I felt my anger slowly reaching down and spreading over my body. I wonder if I could get angry enough to create an explosion in a dream, like I did in the rain earlier. Didn't seem logical since it was a dream… but you never know.

I began to concentrate on every drop of water I could feel all around me and deep beneath my feet. I focused everything else on the ancient hollow voice, and used it to feed my growing anger. He hadn't said anything useful yet and I was beginning to doubt that anything he said would be worth remembering.

"Ah, but dear little girl… wouldn't you like to hear about your Mother?"

An image of my mother appeared right in front of me; a sparkling version that would have been beautiful if she hadn't been in so much pain. Her body was still contorted like it had been while she was fighting the Minotaur, and her face showed every ounce of agony that she had endured during the fight. But her pleading eyes, still seemed focused on me... they were still urging me to run.

Before I could stop myself, I screamed. My voice shook the ground around the chasm, " _NO_!"

"Yes. Your mother is not dead and living a happy afterlife in Elysium as you had hoped and were led to believe. But if you barter with me, I can help you save her. I can help her return to you."

"How do I know that you're not just lying to me to try to get your own way in all this?" I knew I was being used by the Gods, so I was pretty sure that this guy wasn't going to play nice either.

The shadow chuckled, "You do not… but perhaps I judged you too quickly demigod; perhaps you are more prepared then I originally believed."

I continued to stare at the simmering image of my mother. A few angry tears trickled down my face; I wiped them away as quickly as I could. I was so distracted by my Mother that I didn't notice the smoky black tentacles until they had already latched on around my ankles.

I fell forward onto my hands and I felt a sharp pain as the jagged gravel there cut my palm. My knees also stung, and I was sure that if I looked at them, there would be blood smeared over my skin. But it was only a dream, so I tried to ignore the pain.

"Let me go. _Get off of me_!" My last sentence shook the chasm floor again and small bits of rubble showered down from the ceiling.

"If you help me rise, child," the wispy tentacles didn't feel like smoke, but were actually cutting into my skin now. I could still feel the unmoving head as it stared at me, "Do not play into the Gods hands. Bring me the bolt and you shall have _everything_ you desire."

I tried to grab at the tentacles and pull my legs free. My wrists were suddenly snatched away by more foggy octopus legs and I was now on the ground, flat on my back. I kicked and squirmed as I screamed, " _NO_!" More rubble rained down on me as I cried out.

Then something began to not just hold me down, but it began to pull at me. I could feel my body weight being used for a counter weight as something was trying to pull itself out from the chasm.

I pulled at the tentacles with every ounce of strength I had left; I kicked and punched and clawed. Nothing seemed to loosen the grip that the smoky ropes had on me and I wasn't able to stop another one from wrapping around my chest.

It squeezed me so tightly that I _couldn't breathe_.

All the air was pushed out of my lungs and I laid there motionless for a minute. The only thought that entered my mind was _'crap, can you die in dreams?'_

"No little hero; you will not die tonight. Why would I kill someone who is going to become such a wonderful ally. Together we will destroy the indolent, power drunk gods; too long have they been in power. What have they really done for this world?"

As much as I hated what my Dad was expecting of me, everything that he had kept from me; when the smoky-face mentioned destroying the gods, I had a flashback of his kind smiling face and the warm fuzzy feeling that I had gotten when I saw him after my prophecy. He had tried so hard to protect me; and my mom had sacrificed so much to keep me hidden away. Neither of them deserved to die.

Something shimmered in front of me again; a little screen that began showing me my mother and father together when they were younger, "It could be like this again. If you help me, I could give you the family that you want so desperately."

" _Mom_ … _Dad_ …" I knew it was all a lie; I knew that he was just pulling all of this from my inner most thoughts and trying to twist everything around, so that I would help him… whoever he was. "No; _NO_! There's no way you can give me that!" I screamed as I tried to swipe my arm across the sparkly happy images.

I felt my anger begin to course through my veins faster than I had ever felt it before. The whole cave was shaking now, like an earthquake had hit the chasm. I could feel the water collecting deep under my feet, and I focused on trying to pull it up toward me.

Just as the water was about to crack the ground around me, I felt my body jolt up awake.

* * *

I heard my strained voice echo off the large trees as I screamed and cried.

I saw a pair of familiar grey eyes and threw myself at Alec. My hands gripped at his shirt. He offered awkward words of comfort as I slowly convinced myself that I wasn't in the dream anymore. The shadow-smoke-man, must have thrown me out of the dream before I could use any of my powers against him… maybe dreams _can_ hurt you.

The screaming stopped almost immediately after I woke up, but the crying took a bit more time. Alec hesitantly patted my back as I mentally lectured myself over being too emotional; _it was a dream!_

When I was finally able to turn off the water works, Will handed me a bottle of salt water and I took a big gulp before I could change my mind. It still tasted really strange to me, but it helped almost instantaneously.

I felt completely better now; not tired from all the crying, or sore from all the thrashing around I had done. I rubbed my wrist where the smoky tentacles had grabbed me and thankfully felt no pain.

Grover came running into the clearing then, cradling a fuzzy pink poof.

"Sorry, bad dream," was all I told my friends… at least for now. "Grover… what's that pink thing?"

* * *

 _Yay! Hope you guys enjoyed that. What did you think of the smoky-tentacle-guy?  
_

 _Can't wait to show you all next chapter._

 _dogbiscuit - thanks! and yea, I felt like my Grover was a little braver. Hope that change is alright by you all._

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _*** Reviews are always a good idea...  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	24. XXIV Alexander

_Hello there!_

 _Thank you all for being so patient. And thank you for the Follows, Favorites and Reviews for last chapter. Guest, liaregie, mysteries of the future, prince of the seas, MoonLightShadowNight123, and dogbiscuit1967; you all are absolutely brilliant and I appreciate you so much._

 _Without further ado..._

* * *

 **24. Alexander**

"Say hello to Gladiola."

Penelope burst out laughing as Grover held out a very matted pink poodle so all of us could see it.

The little dog growled at her.

I bit back my own chuckle and Will and I said a greeting to the angry looking puffball. We made sure to keep serious faces in place so that Gladiola wouldn't have anyone else to be mad with.

Grover ignored PJ's reaction and continued on with his explanation for the dog, "Gladiola said that he ran away a few days ago from his family and they're offering $200 to get him back. He's not too keen on going back there, but he said that he will let us return him if the money will help us on our quest."

"Wait… the dog wants to help us scam his family?" Penelope took another swig of the salt water before capping it and putting it into the stolen pack from Auntie Em's.

"It's not scamming… really." Grover looked a bit nervous, "They don't really treat Gladiola very well. He said he feels more like a toy than a dog with them. And I mean… come on; they dye him pink on a regular basis."

Penelope looked at the poodle again, "But won't he just run away again?"

Gladiola bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes at PJ.

"Don't piss the dog off. If he's willing to help us the least you can do is say 'hi' to him," I nudged Penelope with my elbow and she glared a little at me before giving in.

"Hi Gladiola."

* * *

We had all agreed on 'No more buses' by the time we dropped by Galdiola's house and returned him to his family. Only the mom of the family seemed excited about getting him back; and she had immediately begun fussing over his appearance. She called a maid over to take the dog from her and then whipped out her phone and began making grooming appointments.

The woman almost forgot to give us the reward for returning Gladiola.

Grover felt terrible leaving the animal with a family who didn't seem to care much for him; we all did I think. But Gladiola had apparently told Grover that he planned on reeking some havoc before he escaped again… for good.

* * *

The Amtrak station wasn't too far from Gladiola's house; it only took us about fifteen minutes to walk there. Will and I bought the tickets and found that the reward money was only going to get us as far as Denver. It was disappointing, but we could at least get some much needed rest until then.

… And I was sure we would find a way to get to Los Angeles _somehow_.

The other problem that we had to worry about was Penelope herself.

She was all over the _Trenton Register-News_. The paper had a picture of her on the front page with a blaring headline reading _"Was Troubled Teen involved in Mother's Disappearance?"_

Will wasn't able to grab it before PJ noticed the picture of herself wielding a very blurry Riptide while standing in front of a crunched Greyhound Bus. Penelope stood there gaping at the photo and I saw her eyes look over the caption twice before she crumpled up the page and threw it into the nearest trashcan. The caption had mentioned our run in with the Kindly Ones and her stepfather.

I wasn't sure which one actually made her angrier; but she looked pissed even after our train had been called and the four of us had settled down in the corner of one of the passenger cars.

We decided to sleep in shifts again, at least until we figured out if the train was safe or not.

Grover and Will passed out first. With the satyr's exploring and the master medic taking care of Penelope for most of the night, I didn't mind taking the first shift.

PJ had some trouble falling asleep though, so she kept me company while the other's caught up on their rest.

"So… what was your dream about last night?" I had never been really good at small talk, so I decided to just be upfront and honest about it, "I know it wasn't nothing."

Penelope pulled her gaze away from the window, where I could see a centaur family disappearing into the thick woods along the train tracks. She held my gaze for a few seconds before finally answering, "Chiron said not to ignore my dreams; he said that when demigods dream, it means something. Is that true?"

I nodded my head, remembering a few of my own dreams that had almost felt like reality or even some kind of prophecy for the future, "Yea. Demigod's dreams can be pretty powerful. They're difficult to decipher, though."

"Oh," she smirked sadly and turned her attention back to looking out the window, "So no manual for dream interpreting then?"

"I'm afraid not."

Penelope focused on me again for a few minutes; it wasn't uncomfortable, but it did make me worry. It felt like she was trying to find the right words.

"I think Hade… the King of the dead, has my mom. He wants me to help him with something and in exchange he said he would bring my mom back," PJ's voice was very soft and her gaze had fallen to her hands which were fidgeting in her lap. "He said that I could have my family back… I don't believe him. But, I can't deny that I've always wanted that."

"You can't barter with the God of the Underworld. Don't be tempted to make a deal for your mom," I reached over and gently held her wrist. "I know you miss her, but you said yourself that she died saving you. That's how your mom wants you to remember her. She doesn't want to be the reason you made a stupid deal with the Lord of the Dead."

She nodded her head and tried to smile, but only one side of her mouth pulled up, "What would you do if it was your dad?"

"That's not a good comparison," I pulled my hand back. I knew it must have appeared kind of mean, especially with my voice on edge; but I really didn't want to talk about my dad. My fingers automatically went to the big class ring that my dad had given me on my sixth birthday. It was something I had always admired and he had no use for it, so he had happily turned it over; but that was one of the last good memories I had of the man.

"Why?" PJ didn't seem to understand my subtle hints…

"Because my dad never really wanted me," I took a deep breath and tried to ignore the look of sympathy that her big green eyes were throwing me. "I was always a burden to him; he even tried to get Athena to take me back to Olympus after I was born. But heroes are supposed to be raised by their mortal parent."

"That's terrible. What did your mom say?"

I glanced at Penelope and actually chuckled a little at the anger that was now set in her expression, "She was pissed; told him that a demigod child was a great honor and that I should take priority over his work and not be treated like an inconvenience. He didn't really listen to her though. We kind of just tolerated each other until I was five and Dad decided to get a nice 'normal' wife and have nice 'normal' kids. He even moved us all to a normal street in a normal neighborhood way out in California. After that, I kind of disappeared into the background."

"Well, that's just stupid… being normal is _boring_ ," PJ tried to smile again; but it didn't reach her eyes at all. "At least that's what my mom always said."

"Your mom sounds pretty cool. I wish I could have met her."

Penelope reached over and pushed the armrest between our seats up so that it became a long bench. She turned herself so that she was facing me and then pulled her legs up and crossed them, like children learn to do in preschool. She pulled on my legs until I mirrored her position and then leaned her head on the back of the seat, "Is that why you ran away?"

I nodded, "He doesn't really care about me. I just ruined the image of his perfect 'normal' family. My step mom treated me like I had some contagious disease; wouldn't let me near her or her kids. And Dad just kind of went along with everything. I could only take so much of the resentful looks, so… I left."

"How old were you?" PJ still looked very angry over my story. It was actually kind of nice having someone listen even though I knew she couldn't really understand where I was coming from.

"Just turned seven; I got to camp a few months later."

"Wait… how did you… how did you get from California to New York by yourself?" Penelope's eyes got so wide they looked like they were going to pop out of her head.

I let go of my dad's ring and took off my necklace, "Did anyone explain the beads to you?"

PJ looked really confused as she took my necklace and examined the five clay beads that were strung on the thin strip of leather, "Not really. I know you get a new one every year, but that's about it."

"At the end of each summer, Chiron picks something significant to represent the year we demigods have survived," I pointed to the white bead that was first on my necklace, "This one was for my friend Thalia. She and Luke are the reason I got to camp safely."

"It kind of looks like the big pine tree that's at the top of Half-Blood Hill. Why does it represent your friend?" Penelope still wore a confused expression, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to explain the whole story.

"Well, Thalia died… Zeus kind of made her into that tree. She was the last known child of the Big Three; before you."

"Oh." PJ stared blankly at me. She looked like she wanted to ask for more of an explanation, but I think she knew that I didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Penelope silently handed over the necklace and I tied it around my neck again. I readjusted myself so that I could stretch my legs out in front of me and lean back a little to get more comfortable. I closed my eyes, crossed my arms over my chest and tried to not mentally replay my arrival into Camp Half-Blood.

I felt a hand close around my elbow. "I'm sorry about your friend," PJ whispered.

I turned my head and opened my eyes to meet her bright green gaze, "Thanks."

* * *

 _So yea... sorry this took a while to update. I ran into some trouble with the next chapter so I wanted to hammer that out before posting this in case I needed to change things. Hope it was worth the wait!_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _*** Reviews are the best... and we are so close to 100...  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	25. XXV Penelope

_Hello there!_

 _Thank you to everyone who Followed, Favorited and Reviewed last chapter. ZayaMartinForever1995, Me, liaregie and dogbiscuit1967; you all are wonderful, thank you so much for the kind words._

 _And off we go..._

* * *

 **25. Penelope**

There were only eight more days until the summer solstice…

That was _all_ I had been thinking about the past three hours and I'd been pacing the full length of our train car for at least half of that time. We've spent two days on the train so far and I wasn't sure how much more time I could take in the steel tube.

I needed to get out and… _do_ _something_.

I had no idea what I needed to do, but it didn't feel like I was making any progress on this quest while I was just sitting around waiting for the train to leave us stranded in Denver.

We were at least a little lucky when it came to the train itself though; the car we were in was almost empty besides us. There was just a little family of four on the other side of the passenger car and they have been keeping to themselves. Grover had been sleeping most of the trip. Alec and Will mentioned that they weren't sure if the satyr had slept _at all_ since we left Camp Half-Blood; so instead of poking him awake like I used to while we were in class at Yancy, I left him alone and just made sure his fake shoes stayed in place.

Alec, Will and I alternated sleeping and keeping a look out for monsters, but I was beginning to think that monsters didn't like trains. It had actually been pretty quiet since we got on board. And that was probably one of the reasons why I was so on edge. Our first day on the quest had been action packed, so two days of calm was making me anxious.

My stomach started to rumble as the train passed over the Mississippi river and the city of St. Luis began to come into view.

I saw The Gateway Arch stretch over the city like some weird shiny handle. It didn't look very impressive to me, but Alec was half standing half kneeling on the chair by the window as he tried to get a better look at the thing.

"Man, I really want to do something like that," Alec slumped into the chair as the archway disappeared behind some huge building.

"Do what?"

"Build something memorable; maybe something that will stand the test of time… last a thousand years," Alec got this far off look in his eyes as he began to ramble. "Have you ever seen the Parthenon? I've only seen pictures, but some day I'm going to see it in person. I want to make something like that; something that, even if it's torn down or parts are weathered away, people will still visit and be in awe of it all."

"So… I'm guessing you want to be an architect when you grow up? I thought we had to be heroes, Einstein?" I smile broadly at the glare I got from his grey eyes. I'd been holding onto that nickname for a while now and I was more than pleased with the reaction.

"Look, _Ariel_ ; Athena expects her children to create things. So yea, I want to be an architect and build the greatest monument to the gods, ever." Alec huffed a little as the train began to slow down, "Sorry… it's just… not everyone becomes some legendary hero. I don't have powers like you or Will, so I rely on my brain. That's how I'm going to leave my mark."

I felt my eyes get kind of wide, "Um… I hadn't really thought about it that way." I shrugged my shoulders and tried to lighten up the tension between us, "And I guess I assumed your brain _was_ your superpower. I did spend some time coming up with good nicknames for you based on that idea. I mean Brain Boy was kind of obvious, but I was pretty proud of Einstein."

"Demigods don't have superpowers, PJ; its godly powers," I saw Alec's face relax a little and I was relieved to see a small smile appear, "And yes, Einstein was pretty impressive; but Ariel for you is much more fitting."

"What; why?!"

"Because even though I'm smart, I hate physics; but you basically _are_ the little mermaid. You can function on land well enough, but you're much more powerful in the water," he laughed really hard as the train came to a full stop and I tumbled to the floor.

"Whatever you say Archimedes," my face scrunched, "Ew; no. I don't like that one… too many syllables."

Alec chuckled as he offered a hand and helped me back up.

I walked over to the still sleeping satyr and began poking him in the arm, "Wakey, wakey, Grover... Or you're not going to get any food."

Grover shot up from his seat so quickly I almost fell over again. Will rolled his eyes and laughed as he rechecked the supplies in his backpack.

The intercom crackled to life and the conductor informed everyone that there would be a three hour layover before the train was ready to leave for Denver. Alec jumped up excitedly and began hurriedly pushing all of us toward the door of the train car.

"What's the rush?" I hopped down the stairs and began walking toward the station.

Alec grabbed my arm and turned me around to face the city, "We are going to The Gateway Arch. Come on guys, sightseeing. This might be my only chance to see it."

"What about food?" Grover grumbled.

"I'm sure there's a snack bar," Will offered the satyr a smile.

"It better be a monster-free snack bar…"

* * *

The Arch was a twenty minute walk from the train station. I wasn't really excited to see the thing, but after the talk Alec and I had yesterday and what he said today… I didn't really feel like I could say no to something he really wanted to see.

There wasn't much of a line; we walked right into the structure and down to the underground museum without waiting at all. We immediately found a little concession stand and we each bought a small snack to tie us over until dinner.

The whole thing was kind of boring; the museum was filled with old covered wagons that were falling apart and other stuff from the 1800's that looked like they were about to crumble to pieces.

But Alec loved it.

His whole face seemed to light up every time we got to a new display. And Grover, Will and I stood as quietly as we could and nodded along as he spouted off interesting facts about how the archway was built.

As we waited for the elevators, I started to feel jumpy. I kept looking over my shoulder thinking that I saw someone in my peripheral, but no one was ever there when I turned around. "Grover, do you… _smell_ anything?"

The satyr looked around and sniffed, "Just underground; and the underground always smells like monsters, so I'm not too worried. Why?"

"I don't know," I turned around again, but there were only shadows. "Wait, doesn't Hade… our Underground Uncle… doesn't he have a hat like Alec's?"

"You mean the Helm of Darkness?" Alec asked. I nodded my head.

Will's eyebrows furrowed slightly, "Isn't that thing supposed to make you into darkness itself?"

"Yea, it's way more powerful than my invisibility hat. He actually _becomes_ the shadows when he uses that thing," Alec didn't look scared, but his voice wavered a little.

Grover shivered noticeably, "That's why all rational creatures fear the dark.

"So… how do we know that he's not here, right now… spying on us?" I looked between all three boys hoping for some comforting words.

I was very wrong…

"We don't."

Grover held out a few blue jellybeans for me as a condolence prize. I gratefully took them and tried to get the nauseous feeling in my stomach under control before we had to get onto the elevator.

* * *

Gods, I hate elevators…

I think I might actually be claustrophobic; tight spaces make me go nuts. I squeezed my eyes shut, but that just made me feel dizzy. I tried talking to the huge lady that stood next to us, but she wasn't very friendly and her dog kind of creeped me out; I wasn't the hugest fan of Chihuahuas. So instead I grabbed Grover and Alec's arms.

I needed something to anchor me so I didn't feel like I was floating away.

The top of the Arch didn't make me feel much better. It felt like I was standing in a giant tin can. The view was actually kind of nice, but after a while it felt like the walls were slowly closing in around me.

I think Alec noticed now uncomfortable I was, because he stood right next to me the whole time and just jabbered on about all the changes that he would have made to improve the Arch. His constant talking helped me not focus on the claustrophobia.

Grover and Will were wondering from window to window just looking over the edge without a care. I was really jealous that they could function so normally in this thing…

Our visit to the top of The Gateway Arch was cut short by the ranger. Luckily for me, the observation deck was closing soon. I practically sprinted to Will and Grover and pushed them as fast as I could toward the open elevator, but when they got inside I noticed that there wasn't any room for Alec and me. The park ranger and a family of five filled the elevator to capacity.

"That's ok, we'll get the next one," Alec said as he waved the ranger on. He put a hand on my shoulder and tried to comfort me, "The faster they leave, the faster they'll come back. And with how many people left up here, if they stayed the ranger would have to make two more trips."

I took a deep breath and looked around the carpeted can. There was a small family, another park ranger and the rather large lady carrying the tiny Chihuahua still remaining. I took another forced but steady breath and tried to smile at the lady and her dog. She offered me a wide toothy grin, her forked tongue curling down her chin like a serpent.

…Wait, WHAT?!

I grabbed Alec's arm and pulled him away from the snake lady.

The tiny dog had jumped down and was now growling at us. But it did not sound like a normal Chihuahua growl…

"Now, sonny," The fat snake-lady hissed as she spoke, "Do you really think that's a good idea. There are so many people still here."

The dog growled again, this time glancing over at the family. I could have sworn that I saw the thing nod its head.

"If you insist, son," the snake lady let out an annoyed, hissing sigh.

"Did you just call that dog your son?" The fluttering nausea in my stomach had now turned to lead. I didn't feel like I was going to throw up anymore; but the situation didn't exactly improve much.

I was still holding Alec's arm as he pulled me closer to his side. We now stood shoulder-to-shoulder so he could whisper directly into my ear, "That is _not_ a dog, PJ. We need to get out of here."

"You are quite a ssss-mart one, Blondie. This is my _Chimera_ , dear," the lady rolled up her sleeve and I was not surprised when her skin turned out to be green and scaly. When she smiled at us again, I noticed that her teeth came to sharp points and her pupils now had slits exactly like a snake. She patted the dog gently on the head, "Now remember son, Penelope Jackson is the one you are testing. Spare the others… if you can."

Alec shook off my hands and reached for his dagger.

"Oh right," I rummaged in my pocket and uncapped Riptide as the fake Chihuahua began to bark. Each time he barked at us, he doubled in size. First he grew to Doberman size, then about the size of an adult lion. When he roared again, the part lion, part goat, and part snake body blew up like a balloon. Some of the spiky scales on its back began to brush against the roof of the observation deck.

"We have to keep them away from the mortals," Alec whispered to me.

"Ok, they seem to like me… so I'll distract them while you round up the people and get everyone over to the elevator doors," Alec looked at me with a confused expression, "What?"

"Just… don't do anything stupid, PJ" and he carefully ran around the monsters and tried to corral the family and the ranger toward the elevator.

"You should be honored, young lady. Zeus rarely allows me to _unleash_ one of my babies to test a hero." The snake lady took two steps towards me; I took two steps backwards, "Oh, how rude of me; I've forgotten to introduce myself. I am Echidna; Mother of Monsters."

I snorted… _loudly_.

I couldn't help it.

"Isn't that a kind of anteater?"

"I HATE when people ask me that. It's not my fault they named that ridiculous animal after me! For that insolence, my son will destroy you," her voice was eerily calm and I have to admit that I was kind of scared.

The Chimera hunched down and I knew he was getting ready to pounce on me. I quickly juked and rolled away from his huge snapping jaw.

I ended up on the other side of the deck and noticed Alec by the elevators. It looked like he had just gotten everyone safely over there and was now trying to figure out the best way to help me not die. That confused expression was all over his face again.

The Chimera noticed my gaze and looked over at Alec and the others; the giant mix-matched animal hunched down again getting ready to spring.

"Hey Chihuahua!" I screamed, trying to pull the monsters attention away from Alec and the innocent people.

The Chimera turned on me _way_ faster than I had imagined an animal of that size could. He faced me and opened his mouth before I even blinked.

"DUCK, PJ!" Alec yelled at me. As I flattened myself on the floor, I felt heat blast across my back. Alec screamed something else, but I couldn't hear him; the sound of my own heart beat in my ears was making it difficult to listen to anything else.

Was he telling me to roll over…?

I quickly rolled to my right and felt another explosion of flames next to me. I looked over and saw the carpet where I had just been laying on fire.

"PJ? Are you ok? Is your back alright?" Alec called over to me again as he carefully danced around with the Chimera.

 _My back?_

That's when I finally felt the sharp stinging; the crazy ex-Chihuahua had burned my back.

The pain was excruciating, but I shoved the feeling out of my mind and stood up. My back did feel a little bit better when I wasn't laying on it.

I quickly scanned the deck.

Alec was occupying the Chimera, but it was slowly pushing him back toward the elevator where the mortals were. I needed to get that things attention again.

"Is that all you've got, pup?!" I grabbed a small piece of rubble and threw it toward the monster.

Wait… rubble?

I looked down and saw that the spot that had once been on fire, was how a gaping hole in the floor of the monument. And there was another huge hole in the side of the wall from the first stream of fire that I had avoided.

Before I could feel any real grief for destroying a national monument, the Chimera was on top of me again.

I instinctively swung Riptide around and aimed for the monster's neck; but it was useless. My blade bounced harmlessly off the stupid dog's collar and I lost my footing. I was so worried about losing my balance that I forgot about that stupid snake tail until it whipped around me and one of the spikes caught me in the leg.

I felt myself fall backwards in slow motion.

I felt the snake tail pull my leg out from under me. I felt my hands come out to brace myself from the fall that was soon coming. And I felt Riptide slip out from my grasp and I saw it skid across the floor and fall through the still smoking hole in the floor of the Arch.

When I finally hit the floor myself, I felt my wrist snap.

 _Great_ … I had burns on my back, a huge gash on my leg and now my wrist was broken. And I didn't have a weapon anymore.

I looked up and met Alec's eyes. He was sneaking around the monsters trying to get to me. I glanced at the people huddled by the elevator; they looked terrified and I didn't have a way to help them anymore. I looked out of the hole in the side of the structure and saw the Mississippi river lazily flowing by below me.

… What would happen if I jumped?

Would the monster follow me? If I died, would the monsters just disappear and leave these people alone?

I stood up and cradled my broken left wrist. I took a step toward the edge and took a closer look at the glittering river below me.

' _Don't do anything stupid, PJ.'_

"If you were really the daughter of Poseidon, you would not fear the water below," Echidna cackled as I played up my fear and made my eyes grow wide. "Jump, Penelope Jackson. Show us your power; prove your lineage."

"But… but if I jump, I'll die," It wasn't hard to make my voice crack. I was scared; _really scared_. But there was this small little voice in the back of my head that kept telling me that everything was going to be alright. A smiling imagine of my father flashed through my mind and I had this weird feeling that the river would protect me. "We're too far up. If I jump from here, I'll splatter on impact…"

Echidna hooted and laughed even harder, "You have no faith _at all_. I cannot blame you of course, little coward. But if you die now, it would be so much easier for everyone involved. And if the fall doesn't kill you, the poison soon will."

She as right, my right leg had gone numb a minute or so ago… I was out of options.

I turned and met Alec's grey eyes, "If I jump, you have to leave all these people alone; unharmed." Alec's eyes almost popped out of his head. He shook his head angrily and he mouthed something at me that looked like ' _stupid_.'

"I don't know if I can agree to that my dear. There is another hero here, after all…" snake lady blindly motioned at Alec.

Dam. I had really been hoping to leave Alec with the mortals and let him ride the elevator back down…

"Ok; what if we both jumped then?"

"WHAT?!" Alec didn't bother whispering or hiding anymore. He walked over and stood beside me, "Are you crazy? This isn't just suicidal now; this could count as murder you know."

I smirked at him and winked, "I… I just… I can't do this anymore. This is the only way to save those people."

Alec heaved a sigh. I think he realized what I was doing, but that didn't mean he liked the plan.

"Yes, yes. I think… I like the idea of you both jumping," Echidna clasped her hands together and wore a wide smile. "If you both jump, we will leave these people completely unharmed."

I forced my body to shake nervously as I nodded my head and turned to face the gaping hole.

Alec stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me, "I thought I told you NOT to do something stupid."

"Well, I have faith that the power my dad gave me will protect me; protect us," I offered him my good hand and he grabbed on tight. The adrenaline was beginning to slow down and I could feel the pain start to creep over my body.

Alec looked at me with concern, "We need to jump before you go into shock."

I nodded slowly, "Ok; on three and then jump out as far as you can."

"One."

"Two."

"Three," and I ran the two steps to the edge and pushed off the building with as much force as I could muster.

We plummeted toward the river; Alec still holding tightly to my hand.

* * *

 _Eek! Sorry for the cliffy, but in my defense that's how the chapter ends in the book too. How did you all like this one?_

 _Zaya - thanks! I usually post new chapters once a week, sometimes twice a week._

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	26. XXVI Alexander

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* * *

 **26\. Alexander**

My life didn't flash before my eyes.

People always say, that right before you die, your life is supposed to flash before your eyes. So hopefully this meant I wasn't going to die… that Penelope really was going to save us somehow.

Funny enough, a story about my mom and Poseidon began playing in my head instead. It was the story about how they collaborated to create the chariot. I know; not exactly the right moment to be reviewing my Greek mythology, but it did have some relevance to the current situation.

Athena, my mom, built the chariot itself. But it was Poseidon who created the horses to pull the chariot, which made the form of transportation actually functional. I'm sure my mom wasn't too happy about excepting help from someone that she kind of loathed, but they had temporarily put their differences aside so that they could accomplish something. And if those two could cooperate and have _faith_ in each other, I could do the same.

I mean, I didn't despise PJ like my mom despised Poseidon. But it had taken _a lot_ of faith in her to jump out of The Gateway Arch and fall six hundred and thirty feet into the Mississippi river with her.

I'm not sure how, but I actually kept my eyes open the entire free-fall down to the water. Penelope, on the other hand, had her eyes squeezed shut as we fell. She looked like she was trying to focus every single one of her brain cells on the river below us, and it looked like it was a painful process.

I watched as the water of the river swelled up to meet us as we fell. The river rose up all the way to our waists before we finally fell into the river. And this action slowed us down so much that the impact from the fall actually felt like I had just jumped off the high dive at a local pool.

The impact of hitting the water still took the air out of my lungs, but it definitely didn't hurt as much as it _could_ have. I had lost my grip on Penelope's hand when we hit the water and she had disappeared, so I looked around the murky water trying to find where the current had taken her.

 _Oh my Gods…_

PJ was unconscious, drifting slowly along the bottom of the Mississippi river.

I began frantically kicking at the water and maneuvered myself so that I could catch up to her.

As I reached out to grab her arm, something _really_ strange happened. Just as my fingers closed around PJ's wrist, a barrier suddenly formed between me and the water. My clothes were suddenly completely dry and I could feel some kind of weird air pocket around me.

I wasn't going to be able to hold my breath for much longer, so I chanced it and slowly took in a gulp; it felt like normal air…

And because I'm way too curious about things, I took a deep breath and released Penelope's arm.

The water completely engulfed me.

I took her hand again and shook my head at myself for getting distracted. PJ was still unconscious; that's what I should be focused on, not running an experiment.

I made sure to keep some kind of contact with Penelope, an arm or shoulder, as I looked her over very quickly. Will would kill me if I tried moving her without making sure she was stable, even if we were underwater. The back of her shirt was so badly burned, I could see peeks of her skin through the tattered fabric; but the skin that was visible looked almost completely healed. The leg that the Chimera's tail had sliced had knitted itself together nicely, and her broken wrist seemed to be working perfectly fine now.

Just as I finished taking her pulse again, PJ's eyes shot open and her green eyes frantically whirled around. She was in shock; her body must have still been coming down from the adrenaline.

"Hey; hey it's ok," I held both her shoulders and kind of marveled at the echoing of my voice. I guess if you can breathe underwater, you can talk under water as well. "You saved us; we're fine."

Penelope still didn't look convinced.

"PJ, how does your arm feel? What about your leg and your back?"

She looked down at herself as she evaluated each injury. Penelope met my gaze again and I tried not to laugh at the surprise written all over her face, "I'm not even sore…"

I smiled with relief, "Just like with the Hellhound, right?"

"No," PJ shook her head, "I actually felt my skin piecing itself back together then; it was _horrible_. But this time… I don't know; I'm just completely healed."

"That might be because you were knocked out for most of the healing process," I smirked as she flexed her wrist and moved her leg around to double check the injuries. "How about we get to the surface and find Will and Grover. I'm sure they're freaked out about us."

Penelope nodded her head and went to turn and kick off for the surface.

"Um… we're going to have to hold hands," I felt myself twitch a little from the embarrassment. "You're the reason we're dry and can breathe down here. If I let go of you, I lose my air bubble; I already tested it."

"Oh, duh," PJ chuckled. She took my hand from her shoulder and made sure she had a good hold of it, "Can't let you drown. I'm pretty sure your mom would have my head or something." Her bright smile made my stomach flip uncomfortably.

Just as we were about to swim for the shore, something grabbed my free arm and dragged me away causing the water to submerge me again. Whatever it was; it was fast. And even though it didn't have any teeth, it had a painful grip on my elbow. I turned around to hit the side of its head and noticed two long whisker like things coming off its head.

It was a _giant_ catfish!

I tried to hit the side of its jaw to loosen the grip it had on me, but no matter how much I wiggled and punched it didn't let go.

"STOP!" Penelope's voice vibrated the water so badly it felt like an earthquake.

The catfish came to an immediate stop and I was whip-lashed against its slimy body.

My chest was beginning to burn from lack of air when PJ grabbed my arm. It felt like a breeze swept over my body as the air bubble formed around me once more.

"What are you doing? Let go of him!" PJ looked at the fist like she was scolding a little child for breaking a toy or something.

I didn't hear the animal say anything, but Penelope's face softened and she spoke to the giant fish as if they were holding a conversation.

"But he's not trying to hurt me. Alec is my friend, you don't have to protect me from him, " PJ's face screwed up in frustration, "Who told you I needed to be saved anyway?"

The catfish slowly let go of my elbow. There was a tense moment of silence and I watched as Penelope's frustrated but confused expression turned to complete anger. I mean with narrowed eyes and a full on scowl to emphasize how mad she was.

"Well, my father has no right to attack my friends. And it's _my fault_ Alec is in Poseidon's domain; you make sure to tell him that," PJ pulled on my arm and we trudged through the mud until the catfish disappeared into the murky water. She was mumbling to herself the whole time, but because of how low her voice was and the weird echo that was caused by the air pocket I couldn't make out any of the words.

A riverboat passed over us, and the methodical _Fump_ of the paddle wheel caused us both to look up.

"Hey PJ, look," The current had kicked up the mud around our calves, and I pointed at the bronze gleam that had been revealed by the shifted dirt.

"Riptide… thank the Gods," Penelope and I bent down and pushed aside the rest of the mud to free her sword.

' _You are welcome, Penelope,'_ the eerie voice didn't echo like mine or PJ's did. It was crystal clear and sounded like it was right beside us.

PJ readied her sword and I withdrew my dagger. I also thanked the Gods that my blade stayed in its sheath during the fall.

' _There is no need for those, my dear heroes.'_

A woman shimmered into existence directly in front of us. She was the same color as the water and I could barely see the outline of her features. Her hair billowed out around her head and her whole body swayed in the current. I knew that she must be a water spirit, but I would have just called her a ghost if it hadn't been for her deep green eyes. They were even brighter than Penelope's.

"Mom?"

I did a double take as I looked from PJ to the almost transparent woman in front of us. They did look a little similar, but it couldn't really be her mother's spirit… could it?

' _No child, I am simply a messenger from your father; though your mother's fate is not as hopeless as you have come to believe.'_

Penelope squeezed my hand. I looked at her and noticed that there were tears collecting at the corner of her eyes. I squeezed her hand back just as tightly; just to make sure she knew I was there with her.

' _You must go to the beach in Santa Monica.'_

"What? Why?" PJ's voice cracked and she hurriedly wiped away the tears before they could fall.

' _It is your father's will. Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please Penelope… I cannot stay much longer here. The river is too foul to sustain my presence.'_

I stood by in complete silence as PJ tried to gather her thoughts. Her mouth opened and closed, and she ironically looked like a gasping fish.

' _I am sorry, I cannot stay much longer brave one…'_

The water spirit held out her hand and placed it lovingly against Penelope's cheek.

' _Do not forget that your father believes in you, Penelope. You_ _must_ _go to Santa Monica. And… and do not... do not... trust the gifts…'_

"Gifts? What gifts?" PJ reached out and tried to catch the water woman's hand, but she was fading right before our eyes, "Wait!"

Penelope took a step forward as the spirit disappeared completely. She turned to me with red rimmed eyes, "What… what did she mean?"

I shook my head, "I'm sorry, PJ. I don't know."

She bit her lip and looked down at the mud between us. I saw her other hand clinch so tightly around the hilt of Riptide that her knuckles turned bright white.

"We should probably get back to the others," I tugged a little on our joined hands to try to get her attention.

Penelope nodded her head, "Yea, ok. Put your dagger away first."

I sheathed my blade and chuckled a little as PJ placed my hand on her shoulder so that she should put the cap back onto Riptide and turn the sword back into a pen.

We walked through the mud until we were closer to shore and then swam for the surface. It was slow going since we had to keep hold of each other, but we managed.

* * *

When we broke the surface, we found ourselves bobbing next to a floating McDonald's. Thankfully everyone's attention was on the television set, so we were able to climb onto the restaurant boat without anyone even noticing.

What was being reported on the news was pretty captivating it seemed.

I felt my mouth fall open as I noticed where the report was broadcasting from. She was standing in front of the Arch. The amazing Arch that I just _had_ to see since I was so obsessed with architecture… now had two holes in it and huge flames curled around the very top of the curve.

"…this is all my fault…"

"Come on Alec," Penelope and I had dropped hands as soon as we got onto the boat, but she took my hand again and squeezed it just as I had when we were with the water lady. "This isn't your fault; it was the monsters."

"But the monsters wouldn't have been there if we hadn't… if I didn't push you all to see it," I felt so guilty my whole body felt heavy.

"Look," a small smirk pulled at the side of Penelope's mouth, "The Arch isn't as cool as the Statue of Liberty, but it's still pretty important. I'm sure they're going to rebuild it."

I reluctantly nodded my head, "Yea, ok."

She gave me a quick hug and then led the way from the restaurant and down a few blocks until the Arch came into view. I spotted the news anchor we had just seen on the television. She was saying something about survivors and that they still needed to be questioned.

"At least Ms. Anteater held up her end of the bargain…" PJ huffed as we passed the reporter and walked up to the edge of the police barricade.

"… _St. Luis_ _Police have started that surveillance cameras revealed that it was an adolescent girl who was the cause of this freak explosion. It's difficult to imagine how a child could cause this kind of mayhem. But we are relieved to report that there were no fatalities from today…"_

I elbowed Penelope and signaled that we should walk around the barricade; we needed to get away from the cameras… just in case… And we still needed to find Will and Grover.

* * *

We wandered around for most than half an hour before we found them. And I almost stabbed Grover in the ribs when he tackled PJ from behind in a hug; they had come out of nowhere, "PJ; Alec. We thought you both went to meet Hades the hard way!"

Hugs were quickly exchanged and I gave Grover and Will the CliffNotes version of what happened to us after they took the elevator.

"Make room; out of the way, please!" A cop yelled over the crowd as a group of EMT's jogged by us with a woman on a stretcher. The woman was part of the family that had been stuck up on the Arch with us and I saw her eyes bug out of her head when she saw Penelope and I. She began hyperventilating and motioning at us, trying to get the paramedics attention. We quickly slipped behind one of the big news vans before the woman could point us out to anyone. We overheard another reporter as we hid.

"… _Yes Dan, it was just confirmed by St. Louis PD that the young woman in the surveillance tape has been identified as Penelope Jackson. Miss Jackson is also wanted for questioning by the police in New Jersey as well New York. For our viewers at home, here is a recent photo of Penelope Jackson. We ask that if you see this young woman, for your own safety, do not approach her. Please contact SLPD with any information you have…"_

"Crap…" Will whipped his backpack off his shoulder and pulled out a black hoody. He handed it to me before pulling out my Yankee baseball cap, "I think we can get by with you just wearing a hood, but it would probably be safer if PJ _disappeared_ for a while… at least until we're back on the train."

I nodded my head and put my arms through the sleeves of the thin jacket, "That's probably a good idea. You ok with that?" I asked Penelope as she slowly wrapped her fingers around my hat.

"How will you guys know I'm keeping up if I'm invisible?" Her voice sounded tired as she spoke, and her shoulders seemed to sag when she looked over at the reporter.

"Just grab hold of one of us and don't let go," Grover offered. "And you can still talk to us, just make sure that there aren't too many people around. The less witnesses the better."

"Ready?" Will asked as he peeked around the van.

Penelope nodded and pulled the Yankees cap over her head.

She completely disappeared.

"Ok, who's got you PJ?"

An invisible hand wrapped around my own and squeeze tightly. I felt something tug at the corner of my mouth.

"Alec's got me."

* * *

 _A little action, a little drama, and a little fluff. Thoughts?_

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 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	27. XXVII Grover

_Hello!_

 _Thank you all for your patients! Huge hugs to everyone who Followed, Favorited and Reviewed last chapter. liaregie, dogbiscuit1967 and yukicrewger2; thanks so much for the extra time you took to comment!_

* * *

 **27. Grover **

Denver was freaking incredible!

The inner city itself was kind of run of the mill in my opinion; just like any other major city. There were massive buildings, busy streets, loads of people… tons of trash… But the city was flanked by _huge_ mountain ranges in almost every direction that you turned. Even though the weather was a little dreary at the moment, the whole place was absolutely gorgeous because of the Rocky Mountains.

We wandered the city a bit aimlessly as we followed Alec's lead. It took us almost an hour to find a place remote enough to call on the rainbow goddess. Alec had been a little obsessive about finding a place where no one would stumble across us while we used an Iris message to contact camp. He didn't detail his concerns, but all of us could tell that Alec was really concerned over the meeting that he and Penelope had had with the water spirit back in St. Louis.

The empty self-serve car wash, on the outskirts of the city, proved to be exactly what we needed.

I took the spray gun and clicked the trigger a few times as I read out the instructions for the water, "It's seventy-five cents." I dug in my pocket and pulled out everything that I had left, "Darn, I only have two quarters left. Will?"

William pulled out a small handful of coins from his pack, "You're in luck. One quarter, but the rest are all dimes and nickels." He placed the larger coin into my palm and I fed the money into the machine.

"How exactly is this going to help us talk to Chiron?" Penelope asked as she leaned up against one of the walls of our little car wash, "Does he have some kind of crystal ball that can receive messages from water hoses?"

Alec snorted, "Um… no. We're I-M'ing him."

"Don't you need a computer to instant message; or at least a phone… which you told me demigods can't have," PJ looked more confused the more she tried to figure out what we were talking about.

"This is an _Iris_ -message, not an _instant_ message," Will said; but it didn't seem to help Penelope understand.

"It's kind of like a video phone call, but with magic," Alec didn't hide his smirk very well as he explained, "The rainbow goddess, Iris, carries messages for the gods. If you ask really nicely, and she's not too busy, she usually helps out us demigods too."

"Ok… so how does the spray gun help you contact the goddess?"

I pulled the small trigger and began spraying the water up in an arch so that the limited sunshine could reflect off the droplets sending colors dancing over the wall and floor, "Do you know of another way of making rainbows?"

Alec held his hand out to PJ, "Do you have a drachma?"

She fished out a large golden coin from her pocket and handed it over to Alexander.

He held the money over his head, "O goddess, please accept this offering." Alec tossed the drachma directly into the little rainbow that I was making. It completely evaporated as it hit the water. Penelope's mouth fell open as she took in the whole process of making a ' _call.'_

"Half-Blood Hill." Will requested as the rainbow began taking on a golden glow.

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

I was honestly afraid that the goddess wasn't going to help us.

Then, all of a sudden, the camp came into view. The message had opened over the back porch of the Big House and you could almost see the edge of the cabins on the left side of the rainbow. Chiron and Mr. D's poker table and chairs were still set up on the far side of the porch, but neither of the people who ran our camp was there.

We were staring at the back of a sandy-blonde head.

"Luke?" Penelope called out.

The son of Hermes turned around and smiled broadly as he took in the sight of each of us, "Thank the Gods! How are you all? Everyone in one piece?"

"Yea, we're… fine," Alec frowned as he looked between a beaming Luke and a suddenly tongue tied Penelope. She was twisting the hem of her shirt around one of her fingers and avoided looking at Luke directly in the eyes.

"We needed to talk to Chiron. Where is he?" Will asked as he tried to move the conversation along.

The smile on Luke's face fell immediately, "Oh… he's down at the cabins. We're having some… some issues with the campers."

I craned my head around so I could see Luke more closely, "What kind of issues?"

"A fight broke out among the campers; things are pretty tense here," Luke looked back over his shoulder like someone out of our frame of sight had called to him.

"Wait, why are things tense there?" Alec's eyebrows were furrowed together as he looked around the Iris message trying to see if he could figure out for himself what was going on.

BOOM. BA BA BOOM. BOOM BA BOOM.

A big black and orange car pulled up into the car wash station next to ours. It had massive chrome wheels and bounced so much that it almost scrapped the cement with the bottom of the car. I could actually feel the loud music as it vibrated under my feet.

"What did you say, Alec!?" Luke had to yell just for us to hear him.

"I asked… I SAID… Oh this is stupid," Alec grabbed Will's bow from his bag and almost threw it into his arms as he dragged the son of Apollo off to the next car wash area.

I discreetly poked Penelope in the side.

She glared at me before she realized that I wanted her to do, "Oh, um… why are things tense there? Why was there a fight?"

"Someone's been spreading rumors about the Zeus- Poseidon standoff and people are beginning to take sides," Luke looked a little nervous as he continued to fill us in, "It looks like Aphrodite, Ares and Apollo are backing Poseidon. And Athena is taking Zeus's side. It's quickly turning into the Trojan War over here…"

I saw Penelope's eyes flicker over to the wall Alec and Will had disappeared behind.

"So tell me what you needed Chiron to know. I'll make sure he gets the message."

Penelope took a deep breath and began telling Luke the highlights of our quest so far. She told him about the bus ride with the Kindly Ones, our mishap with Medusa and the craziness at the Gateway Arch with the mother of monsters.

Unfortunately we got the warning beep from the water pump as PJ had finished explaining our escape from . Luke quickly agreed to the theory about Hades taking the master bolt. But when Penelope questioned the God of the Underworld's ability to take someone else's magical item, Luke did something strange…

… he cast doubt over Alec.

I tried not to gape as Luke stumbled over the idea of someone having to be invisible to get into the throne room without being seen.

 _Was he really saying this?_

I felt my stomach tighten as I listened to Luke stammer again about how Alexander would never be capable of something like that. I actually felt anger bubble up from my gut. Alec, Luke and I had been through so much together. I trusted both of them with my life… at least I thought I did.

I tried to imagine Alec using his cap of invisibility to get a hold of the master bolt, and I honestly wanted to laugh; but something was keeping me from completely believing that this scenario wasn't a possibility. And the fact that Luke had suggested such a thing just made me angry beyond anything I had sensed before.

The Luke I know would never have let that idea enter his head… even unintentionally…

There were screams and car doors slammed shut right before the black and orange car peeled out of the stall next to us and sped away.

"Um, I think we need to go Luke. Please tell Chiron about all the monsters and the river spirit I met with," Penelope stared at the wall like she was trying to see through the cement.

"Sure thing," Luke's charming smile was back in place; like he hadn't just insinuated that Alec, the person he had known the longest at camp, had something to do with the disappearance of Zeus's master bolt. "Oh! Are you wearing my shoes? Did they auto-fit like they're supposed to?"

A nervous smile crossed PJ's face as she looked over at me, "Yea of course. They've already helped a bunch; came in real handy with Medusa."

"Great! I feel a lot better knowing that you're wearing them and they're doing you some good. You all take care of yourselves out there," Luke said before the water puttered out and the rainbow disappeared.

* * *

My stomach grumbled loudly as we sat at a booth in the back of the little diner. Will was counting out the money that we had left to see what we could afford to order and split.

We were just about to place our orders with the waitress when a huge man entered the diner.

I knew it was Ares right away. The _sheer hate_ that rolled off his aura almost made me choke. He was decked out like your stereotypical biker; holey black jeans, leather jacket, combat boots and hair styled in a Mohawk streaked with red. He had covered his godly eyes with thick wraparound sunglasses and he wore an almost evil smirk as he came over to our booth and slide in beside me and Will.

"It's on me," he barked at the waitress as she stared blankly at him. "What are you still doing here? Three regular burgers with all the fixings, one veggie, four orders of fries and bring them each a milkshake. Need them well fed."

I ground my teeth at how Ares had treated the waitress. I shouldn't have really been surprised since this is how he has always acted, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. I quickly tried to tune out everything he was saying and feeling.

It proved to be very difficult since Penelope, Alec and Will were all under the influence of his rage. I could feel each of them twitch and glower at the God as he spoke briefly about Poseidon, Camp Half-Blood, and Clarisse.

But then he mentioned something that forced me to pay attention.

"… do me a favor."

"What kind of favor could I possible do for you?" The edge in PJ's voice didn't really hide the anger that she was feeling. Though, when I looked at her face she did appear to look calm… just really pissed off.

"Busy schedule; don't have time for little errands." Ares gave off a slight nervous vibe as he adjusted his leg, "I left my shield at an abandoned water park, I just need you to go collect it for me."

"That's it? You just want us to go get your shield…" PJ looked a bit shocked as she process what the God of War had said. And Alec and Will were beginning to give off feelings of anxiety and suspicion as the conversation continued.

"That's it; pretty simple," Ares casually stretched his arms over his head and made sure his Mohawk was still sticking straight up.

Penelope's look of surprise was gone and I could feel that she was beginning to question how _simple_ the task really was, "Not interested. We already have a quest."

A hallow laughter filled the diner.

Every single person froze in place and looked over at our table as the War God sniggered.

He pretended to wipe a tear away from his eye as he turned to PJ with a mock expression of concern, "Oh, I know! I know all about your _little_ quest. So very important, isn't it? But you really wouldn't have even gotten this quest if it wasn't for me. So… in a way, you owe me, Jackson."

Penelope stared, without blinking, into the reflective lenses of God of War's sunglasses. She didn't flinch at all when he took the glasses off and relieved the flames within his eyes.

"I'm the one who told your old man about my suspicions. I was the one who pointed him in the direction of Old Corpse Breath. Without me, he never would have given a second thought about being framed by my dear Uncle," Ares wiped the hem of his wife-beater over the sunglasses and put them back over his eyes. "It's the oldest trick in the book; I recognized it immediately."

"Thanks for the info," I could feel Penelope shaking with anger as she spoke.

Ares waved his hand out in front of him, "No worries, I can be generous when the situation calls for it. But if you _really_ want to thank me, you can do this tiny errand for me. I'll even set up a ride for you all to get to California if you do this for me."

Penelope spoke up before the rest of us were able to even blink, "No thanks. We'll find a way west on our own."

The other patrons of the diner still looked like statues and were still staring at us. But when the War God laughed again, this time a little more naturally, all the people began going about their business again.

" _Sure_ you are…" Ares chuckled and picked a fry off of my plate, "No money. No transport. And _No_ idea what's waiting for you… Yea, you're really well off right now. But if you won't help me out, that's fine. I'll just take my info about the Underworld, Hades and your Mom with me and go."

We all made matching sounds of surprise at the mention of PJ's mother. And I felt her heart stop for a split second when Ares said the word.

The God of War grabbed a napkin and rubbed the grease off his fingers as he stood up to leave, "Well, I guess I'm out of here then."

I could almost hear Penelope's heart thumping frantically, "Wait…"

Ares, stopped and turned around to face our table again. He wore a smirk that made my insides squirm, "Yes?"

"Where… where exactly would we have to go to find your stupid shield?" PJ's voice was muffled as she clenched her teeth tightly together.

"It's a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it, really. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride."

"What were you doing at the Tunnel of Love ride?" Penelope asked before Alec could elbow her in the side.

Ares gave us a look of complete contempt. It actually reminded me a lot of Clarisse…

"Just make sure you keep up your end of the deal, Jackson. And I'll make sure to keep up mine."

And with that, the God of War was gone.

There was a lingering feeling of hate and a slight hint of nervousness still around us. I looked at Penelope and sighed, "This isn't good, PJ. He sought you out… he didn't even speak to the rest of us… and this errand seems really fishy to me."

Penelope nodded, "I know. Something didn't add up when he was telling us about the _little errand_. Let's just go. I'm sure we can find a way to California before he realizes we've left the city."

"No way!" Alec's eyes had gone wide at PJ's suggestion to run, "You do not want to be on the bad side of a God… _especially_ the God of War. He'll probably turn all of us into groundhogs or something and run us over with his motorcycle if we don't do this."

"But… did you see how he was acting when he talked about this errand? He looked scared!" Penelope glanced at all of us for confirmation of the observation.

Will nodded his head first, "Yea, he did. But if we don't do this, whatever is waiting in the water park is probably going to look like a basket of fluffy puppies in comparison to what the War God will do to us. I don't want to find out what kind of stuff he does to people when he throws a tantrum."

"We're going to have to go to that water park..."

I regretted saying those words as soon as they left my mouth.

* * *

 _Sorry for the late chapter. I was having trouble with this one... I'm hoping to post the next chapter in the next day or two to thank you all for hanging in there. Please let me know what you think!_

 _Liaregie - yup yup! What did you think my my Ares?_

 _Dogbiscuit - thanks! Thanks for the catfish again._

 _yuki - that is a cleaver idea. But right now, they are still 12 and I"m not sure snugly is something they should be getting into. Maybe when they're a little older?_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
_

 _*** Reviews are the best...  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	28. XXVIII Penelope

_Hello. This Holiday season was ridiculous. I quit. I would much rather be writing..._

 _Thanks to everyone who Followed, Favorited and Reviewed last chapter. LiaRegie, yukicrewger2, and dogbiscuit1967; you all are the absolute **best**!_

* * *

 **28\. Penelope**

The sun was beginning to fall to the horizon when we finally found the old abandoned water park. It looked terrible to say the least. Some of the letters had been smashed out of the neon sign that hung over the gate and a huge rusted padlock sealed the two chain-link gates together.

The place reminded me of the bad eighties horror movies that my mom and I liked watching. It was deserted, there were tumbleweeds of trash and the setting sun bounced off of some of the attractions at weird angles that caused eerie reflections.

I was _not_ excited about going into this place.

My stomach twisted uncomfortably, and I began to feel a bit nauseous as the four of us just stood there and took in our current surroundings.

"So… how are we going to get in?" Alec stepped toward the gate and turned the lock over in his hand.

Grover smirked at me slightly as he looked down at his shoes, " _Maia_." The wings suddenly sprung out from the high-tops and propelled the satyr up into the air like a bullet. He struggled slightly as he maneuvered himself forward over the top of the closed gate and twisted, almost purposefully, before he somehow landed upright on the other side, "You all coming?"

I crossed my arms and glared at the smug look my goat friend was offering, "Sure, just throw those sneakers over to us and we'll be right over. Or, you know… you could help us over yourself."

"No need," Will stated matter-of-factly. He held up the opened padlock and smiled as he pushed the gate open. We all stared at him, a bit in shock, as he shrugged, "the Stoll brothers might have mentioned a few pointers on lock picking last time I patched them up."

My stomach tightened further at the mention of our fellow campers.

I really missed Camp Half-Blood.

It might not have been my home for very long, but with my mom now gone, it was the only home that I could claim.

I shook my head and rolled my shoulders back; I needed to focus on the task at hand…

"So why would the God of War come to this dump in the middle of nowhere?" My brain began whirling around with several different scenarios even before I had finished asking the question.

"That's probably one of the reasons he picked this place... I mean, the whole out of the way part. And if he was at the tunnel of love, I'm pretty sure I know who he was meeting up with…" Alec's voice lowered as he spoke and he looked around the empty park like he was expecting someone to pop out at us.

"Who the heck would want to come meet the God of War _here_?" I began to glance around too, a little anxious myself. My mom had worked at a little caravel on Coney Island one summer, and this place was beginning to give me some distracting flashbacks of fun, happiness and mother-daughter time.

I bowed my head and quickly wiped an angry tear from my face. As the memories flipped through my head, I hated Ares even more now for making us come here.

"There's only one goddess I can think of," Will and Alec chuckled a little at the dreamy tone that Grover's voice had taken on.

I shoved all the memories of my mother to the back of my head and screwed up my face as I tried to concentrate.

 _Who could they be talking about?_

* * *

Just as we found the old run down Tunnel of Love, with weather beaten cherubs all around a dried up water pit, it hit me. I froze in place as I said the name silently to myself…

… _Aphrodite…_

 _Oh no…_

I had read enough stories about the Goddess of Love to know that I _never_ wanted to meet her. She was totally self-involved, extremely short-tempered and way too easily offended… And she kind of started the whole Trojan War.

Will and Alec begin walking around the perimeter of the rundown water ride and Grover stepped up next to me, "Do you smell any monsters?"

The satyr tilted his head back and sniffed around in a few different directions before shaking his head, "Nothing monster-ish; but this whole thing still smells fishy to me."

I nodded, "I have the same feeling." I looked down into the eerie empty pool and saw a little pink and white boat lying a bit lopsided against the concrete ground. It looked ridiculous, decked out with frilly painted hearts everywhere.

And there, in the front seat of the marooned boat, was a very out of place bronze shield.

"There isn't anything obvious set up," Will reported as he and Alec come back from their walk around, "But the little winged babies up there seem to have real arrows… I can't figure out how the bows would even work though since they can't be removed from the figures."

"It's got to be a trap though. The shield is just sitting down there; it doesn't look like anything is tying it down either," Alec waved his hand at the boat and pointed out the War God's shield to us.

I sighed heavily as I stepped up onto the edge of the empty pool, "Only one way to fine out." I felt a little bit of courage bubble in my chest as I took a step toward the boat. I glanced over my shoulder at the three boys, "Will, you find a comfy spot and keep a look out. Grover, you come fly me out of there if something goes terribly wrong. And Alec, go find the control box for the ride in case I trigger something."

"What?! No way are you going down there by yourself," Alec jumped down and jogged until he fell into step next to me. "If you're going to do something stupid..."

"I always do something stupid, remember?" I flashed him one of my wide toothy smiles.

Alec's forehead wrinkled as he frowned at me, "Alright Ariel, so what's the plan?"

"Um… don't die?" I chuckled at the glare that he was now giving me, "Look, _you're_ mom's the Goddess of Wisdom and war strategy. Shouldn't I be asking you what the plan is?"

"I don't have enough information or time to put a plan together, so we're just going to have to go with your whole 'don't die' bit," Alec huffed a little as he drew his dagger and tightened his fingers around the hilt.

I felt my eyes roll before I could stop them, "Geez Einstein, lighten up. We're heroes, right?" Alec's stiff stance didn't seem to loosen up any. "Well, with your brain, my powers and our backup and cover fire; I'm sure we'll get out of whatever this is in one piece."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Alec still looked pretty pissed off, but I heard a little bit of humor in his voice.

When we got to the boat, there still wasn't any sign of what kind of trap we had walked into; everything was still dead silent.

On the floor of the boat, I found a beautiful pink scarf. I picked it up and the fabric left like a strange mix of solid and liquid, and the scent that came off of the scarf make me think of purple roses. I have no idea why, but I couldn't shake the image from my head.

"I'll take that," Alec's voice echoed a little as he snatched the scarf from my hand and hurriedly shoved it into his back pocket. My mind was working a little slowly, but I noticed that he was holding his hand over his nose and mouth… that must have been why he sounded so muffled when he had spoken before, "Love magic is never a good idea."

I blinked my eyes a few times to clear my head as I felt the magic disappear, "Yuck…"

Looking around, I noticed that there were mirrors all along the edge of the empty pool. Every single one of them were facing the boat, "Gross… I thought Narcissus was the one in love with himself…"

"SShhh," Alec warned as he readied his dagger again. "Not the best idea to talk about any of the Gods like that. You never know who is listening."

I snorted as I reached down and picked up the shield, "Whatever…" I heard a small snapping sound just before…

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

The whole water park began to rumble. It sounded like the ride itself was coming to life; gears started to turn, grinding and screeching loudly.

The cherub figures that lined the rim of the pool turned in different directions and began pulling their bows back into firing position. Will quickly fired two explosion arrows, but they barley left scorch marks on the cheery little statues.

Thick cords trailed back and forth, over our heads, as the arrows were shot off. This was apparently just the first step though, because after the arrows were finished, golden thread began to expand and weave a thick web. Grover tried to fly down and pull us up, but every time he got close to us the thread would wrap around his ankle and begin to pull him down.

Will quickly sliced the cord with his dagger and we told Grover to go back to the edge of the empty pool.

Alec and I began to sprint to the rim, just as Grover touched down. Will was using some kind of razor cutting arrows now and was at least slowing down the progress of the weaving cords. But the thread was… _learning_? It looked like the string began to work double time to counter the damage that Will was causing. And before we were able to reach the edge and climb out, Alec and I were trapped.

I uncapped Riptide and was about to take a swing at the webbing, when one of the cupid heads popped off and a camera lens spun as it focused on me and Alec.

' _Live to Olympus in one minute…"_

"Are you kidding me?!" I screamed at the camera. But my state of annoyance didn't last long as the mirrors along the rim suddenly swung forward and tons of little metal things began to march toward us.

Alec grabbed my arm tightly and jerked me back as one of the things took a swipe at me, "Come on!" He pulled me back to the middle of the empty pool where the boat was. Alec stood in the boat and stared with utter shock as the little geared creatures came closer. There were thousands of them now; there was a sea of tiny mechanical things closing in on us… I think they were spiders.

Alec looked terrified.

I frantically scanned around for anything that could help us.

' _Forty-one, Forty…'_

Wait… we're in a pool… an empty pool…

"Grover, go find the controls for the ride and try to turn the water on! Will, run around to the back of the ride and see if there's a water main you can blow up or something!"

Both boys disappeared without a second thought as I climbed into the boat beside Alec. I used Riptide and Ares' shield to keep the metal spiders away.

' _Nineteen, eighteen…'_

I saw Grover out of the corner of my eye. He had found the control booth and was banging away at the buttons as fast as he could. There was a small explosion from behind us, which meant that Will must have found something that looked promising… but nothing happened.

Alec stood stiffly next to me and was clenching his teeth as he jabbed at the spiders who got too close. He was really trying to control it, but I could see the horror in his eyes.

I looked up at the mirrors again, trying to judge how many more spiders would be joining us, when I saw it.

There were thick pipes visible through one of the mirror-doors.

One of those _had_ to be for the water.

I took one last swing at the spiders and capped Riptide.

' _Ten, Nine…'_

I squeezed my eyes shut and forced every inch of my brain to imagining those pipes splitting open and water rushing down to me. I thought about the water sweeping down and washing away the spiders. I smiled as I saw myself directing the water to smash and drown the little metal things and then using the water to guild the boat safely to the ride's exit.

" _Two, One."_

Water came roaring out from the mirrors. Waves overtook the spiders and washed many of them into the side of the pool, drowning them, and even smashing some of the others against the rim.

The pool was quickly filling, and the boat began to float as the water level steadily rose.

Alec sat down and pulled me down next to him. We strapped ourselves into the seats and I began to focus all my thoughts on steering the boat through the rough waves that had formed.

I'm not really sure how, but I felt the boat respond precisely as I thought about where I wanted to go. It tilted a little to the left as I tried to avoid a spider that was attempting to climb aboard. And the boat surged forward as the water got high enough for us to enter one of the tunnels.

But I quickly realized that it wasn't the right tunnel.

Well it was… it was the tunnel that led to the exit… but the exit was locked. The stupid people who closed up the tunnel hadn't tied up all the boats correctly and a few of them had crashed into the sealed gate when the water had risen.

The boat on top of the pile lay in pieces…

My brain started whirling around again as I tried to figure out what to do. If we didn't find a way out of the boat we were going to crash into the pile of debris. The only thing I could think of was jumping at the last second and hoping that the force of the boat crashing would help propel us back into the pool. I unhooked my and Alec's seat-belts, "We have to jump."

"What!?" His eyes looked like they were going to bug out of his head. I tried not to smirk as I thought of St. Luis.

"Jump. It's not like we haven't done this before," I couldn't help myself, I was beaming now. My body was shaking with horrible anxiety, but the familiar situation was just too funny.

Alec shook his head, " _Fine_. On my mark, then."

I grabbed his hand and nodded.

It felt like time slowed down for a few seconds as our boat crept closer to its impending crash sight. I glanced around and saw Will tying some rope to the end of one of his arrows. Grover sprinted toward the exit for the Tunnel of Love and launched himself into the air and disappeared behind something.

"…NOW."

Alec and I jumped just as our pretty pink and white boat smashed into a few dozen pieces. I used the surrounding water to give us a little extra leg up as we leapt over the closed gates and then began to fall.

Just as the black asphalt was getting a little to close, Grover swept down and caught us by our joined hands. He carried us a short distance and dropped us onto a roof of a nearby building. I slid down the roof a little but reached out and caught myself on a rope; the same rope that Will had been positioning apparently. Alec was right beside me, also clinging to the safety line.

When I was positive that we weren't moving anymore, I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe, "Ok… so, _really_ stupid plan…"

"Yes…" I heard a soft chuckle from Alec, "But we didn't die."

We sat up and looked back over at the Tunnel of Love; the cameras were still watching us, broadcasting everything that had happened back to Olympus.

I felt the rage begin to burn over my face. I put on the most convincing smile I could muster to cover the anger up, but I'm sure I still looked livid, "Shows over now, hope you enjoyed it!"

As if on cue; the cupids returned to their original positions and all the lights began to turn off.

* * *

The fake smile fell from my face and I began to chew on the inside of my cheek to keep the angry tears at bay.

Alec scooted to the edge of the roof and looked down, "it's only a six foot drop from here; we can just jump down."

I nodded but didn't meet his gaze as he looked back at me. Alec didn't comment on the waterworks that I had building up in my eyes, but I was sure he could see it. He looked away quickly to give me some privacy.

Alec took a breath and fell gracefully to the ground. I heard him land nearly soundlessly on his sneakers.

I inched forward to follow, but I managed to scrap up my hands pretty badly as I landed. Mostly because the shield that was still strapped to my arm make me lopsided.

We thanked Will and Grover for saving our butts, before we wondered back to the entrance of the park.

"Here," Will sprinkled some of the saltwater over my palms and they healed up almost instantly.

Alec sighed with relief, "Look!" He was pointing at the gift shops broken door.

"You want a souvenir of our time here?" I snorted as he rolled his eyes at my comment.

"No, Water Girl… I want fresh clothes." Alec jogged over to the shop and began riffling through the souvenir t-shirts and shorts, "We haven't had clean clothes since Camp, and unlike you, not all of us are water-resistant." He glared at me, but I could tell he was trying to be funny.

A small smile came to my lips, "Whatever, Brain Boy…"

We all picked out _'new'_ clothes before we had to meet up with the God of War.

* * *

 _Uhg... I really think I will be taking the holidays off next year. They are far too stressful..._

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _*** Reviews are so very important...  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	29. XXIX Alexander

_Hey there!_

 _Thanks so much for the Follows, Favorites and Reviews for last chapter._ _FleurSuoh, the boltgaurd, dogbiscuit1967, and LiaRegie; you all are the best!_

* * *

 **29\. Alexander**

"Yea, well… you're pretty smug looking for someone who's afraid of stupid little cupid statues!" Penelope yelled as she struggled against me and Will.

Ares had taken back his shield with only _'You all looked pretty good on T.V.'_ as a thank you. I didn't really expect him to thank us, but the least he could have done was not purposefully rile up PJ.

… Though that _is_ kind of what the God of War enjoys doing.

He had pointed us in the direction of the Humane Zoo Transport truck right before he dropped the bombshell that Penelope's mother was really still alive… that's when she had lost it and lunged at Ares.

Will and I had each grabbed an arm while Grover graciously accepted the information, ride and backpack full of random 'helpful' items.

"See you around, Penelope Jackson," Ares smirked as he revved up his engine, "And watch your back next time we meet up." The smirk had twisted into a snarl as the God of War slowly rolled his Harley Davidson out of the parking lot and disappeared.

As soon as Ares was out of earshot, I kind of laid into PJ, "Are you crazy?! That was the God of War... you know hot tempered, unreasonable, sounded like he just threatened your life..."

Penelope pulled her arms free of Will and my grip and huffed a little as she faced me, "So what? He's just a huge bully. He pushes everyone around to get his way. I hate people like that; can't stand them!"

"Most of the Gods are like that!" I quickly clamped my mouth shut; I really couldn't believe I had said such a thing. Penelope looked at me like I was the one who lost my mind. I sighed and started again with a more level tone, "Well it's either they push people around or they manipulate people to get their way. It's just how it is."

PJ and I looked at each other for a few seconds. She looked like she was trying to decide if I was real or not... but before she could decide, Grover reminded us that we needed to get going.

The four of us jogged over to the eighteen wheeler and slid along the side facing away from the diner. Will jimmied the lock and gave us all a leg up into the back of the truck before Grover grabbed both his hands to haul him in.

Penelope quickly closed the door behind us.

* * *

"Well, it _did_ say zoo transport..." Will said as we all looked around at what we had gotten ourselves into.

Grover wore a look of confusion, "What are you guys talking about?"

Penelope's voice came out pretty muffled. She had pulled her shirt collar over her nose and mouth as soon as we had gotten into the truck, "It smells really bad, Grover... can't you smell it?"

"Yea, I guess." Grover shrugged, "But it's not as bad as some of the _monsters_ I'm smelt before. Like those trolls we..." The satyr glanced at me before quickly changing the subject, "Well, let's just say some monsters smell ten times worse than a little petting zoo."

"Well, it looks even worse than it smells…" PJ said as she uncapped Anakluzmos and cast a glowy light over our new transportation.

There was a zebra, lion and a gazelle riding along with us. The zebra looked tired and very hungry as it nudged the hamburger meat at its feet. The lion looked a little pale and way too skinny; and for some reason it laid next to a huge bag of turnips. The gazelle looked alright in comparison to the other two animals, but someone had tied a bright red balloon onto one of its horns. The poor animal looked ashamed to have the thing attached to it.

I grabbed Grover's arm as he turned on his heel and went to push open the truck's door; I knew what he wanted to do to the drivers of the truck… I think we all wanted to help him. But we didn't have the time right now and the truck began to hum, meaning the engine had just been started and we would be moving soon anyway.

"Look Grover, I want to help the animals too. But we can't really do anything right now," I nodded toward the small cages, "Try to talk to them; let them know we want to help."

Penelope and Will used their weapons to carefully switch out the mismatched food. The animals at least looked a little happier after they had received the correct snacks.

I went through our supplies and tried to divvy up what food remained evenly. We had a few extra shirts now and some dollars, as well as a handful of drachmas. I wasn't sure how much the small amount of money would actually help us, but it was nice to have some instead of none. There were some bales of hay lining the back of the truck, and I started arranging it into makeshift daybeds. I pulled out the few blankets that we had brought with us from Medusa's gnome emporium and was just about to settle down when Penelope shrieked.

"Did… did that zebra just make a comment about the turnips? Did anyone else hear that?!" PJ's eyes had gone super wide and she looked terrified. She probably thought she was going crazy…

Grover didn't seem to realize why her question was so strange, "Yea, she said the turnips are pretty good but she prefers radishes. I told her we didn't have any though, since we've been traveling so much we haven't exactly had access to a grocery store in a while."

It took everything I had not to bust out laughing.

Will was having a similar issue as he took in Grover's clueless statement and Penelope's gaping mouth.

"...Wait a second... " Grover cocked his head to the side and looked at PJ with some confusion.

"There it is. I knew it wouldn't take Grover too long," Will crossed his arms and stood next to me as we whispered.

"Yea, but how long is it going to take for PJ to accept what just happened?" I couldn't help but smirk. It was one thing to accept that you're a Half-Blood; it's a completely other thing to accept some of the magic that comes with having a godly parent.

"...How did you know that Zelda said something about the turnips?" Grover's hand, which had been gently petting the zebra's neck, froze in place, "Wait… _no way_!"

"I… I don't know…" Penelope looked at me, then Will, then at Grover… then back at the zebra in question. "I think… I think I heard her. But _how_ is that possible?"

Will chuckled and shook his head, "No way we're going to just tell you. What would be the fun in that?"

PJ's composed herself enough to frown, "And here I thought _you_ were the nice one…"

"Wait, what?" I chuckled at the insult I assumed was meant for me.

Penelope walked over to the zebra's cage and stared at the animal as it continued to eat the turnips, "Can I at least get a hint?"

"Do you know the story about how the chariot was invented?" I asked with a little bit of smugness. It was way too much of a give away, but I couldn't think of any other clue to give her without just spelling it out.

"I think so… your mom made the chariot and my dad made the horses, right?" Just as she asked for confirmation, the idea dawned on her, "...And zebras are related to horses?"

I nodded my head, "They're actually in the same scientific family; Equidae. And I would guess that since your dad created horses, you have a special bond with them… which seems to carry over to similar species as well."

"Can she understand me too?" Penelope asked as she reached a hand out and scratched the zebra's nose.

Zelda the zebra nodded her head.

"Oh my Gods…"

Penelope and Grover spent a few more minutes talking to the zebra and coming up with a plan to set them free the first chance we got. Will and I finished setting up the 'beds' and he, of course, rolled over and fell asleep immediately.

"How does he do that?" Penelope asked as she sat down next to me and adjusted a rolled up blanket behind her head.

"No idea. He's able to sleep practically anywhere. Maybe that's his _superpower_ ," I picked up a small piece of straw and flicked it at Will. He didn't react at all.

Penelope glared, "Ha ha, very funny."

There was a beat of silence before she spoke again.

"So… I can talk to zebras because of my godly parent, and you apparently can't stand spiders because of yours?" PJ bumped me with her shoulder but didn't laugh or even smirk.

"Yea," I scratched my arm as I felt a sharp tingle crawl up my wrist, "Arachne… just the idea of a spider kind of freaks me out... Really brave, I know."

Penelope didn't seem to care, "Whatever. At least your fear doesn't make it so you can't use the most efficient mode of transportation… If I wasn't on this quest, you all could have hopped on a plane and would already be back at Camp Half-Blood by now."

"Probably," I snorted at the glare PJ sent my way, "But we wouldn't have even gotten the quest if it weren't for you, so stop thinking like that. Flying is overrated anyway."

"You only think that because you don't have these babies," Grover interjected as he showed off Luke's winged sneakers.

"Maybe," PJ chuckled as the satyr held his feet over his head and admired the shoes. "Do you think they would have helped against those trolls you mentioned before?"

Grover and I locked eyes.

Neither of us really wanted to talk about trolls.

Penelope looked between us a few times before sighing and crossing her arms over her chest, "Look. I know you two aren't telling me something… I've already guessed it's about Thalia the tree, so why don't you both just tell me. Sometimes talking about things can help."

Grover hung his head so much his chin was touching his sternum.

"It wasn't your fault, Grover. None of us blame you," my voice was soft as I thought back to that horrible day, but I tried to make sure that the satyr understood that I was being sincere.

"It's my fault Thalia died, the elders said so themselves."

"Why?! Because you chose to help save all of us instead of leaving me and Luke behind?" I felt anger bubble up from my gut as I thought about those ancient cloven elders and their backwards, old world ways. "No. I don't care what those fossils said. I'm alive because of you; so is Luke. And Thalia… Thalia wouldn't blame you for what happened either. The God of the Underworld was after her; I think she knew that she didn't stand a chance…"

Grover shook his head. He obviously didn't believe me.

PJ just sat there and absorbed everything she could from the conversation. She began to look just as angry and annoyed as I felt when she realized Grover still blamed himself for Thalia's death after all these years, "Grover, you're an amazing keeper. I mean, you found _two_ children of the Big Three… that isn't just a coincidence!" She reached over and pulled on the satyr's arm, "You are my very best friend Grover; you were my _only_ friend for a while there... I know that you have a huge heart and you're pretty brave too. I have a feeling that you're going to make an amazing Seeker, and I bet you'll even be the one to find Pan."

At those words, Grover did seem to cheery up a little. He gave us both a small smile before taking a huge yawn and mumbling how tired he was. He leaned his head back on one of the hay bales and was out almost as quickly as Will.

I tried to go to sleep as well, but for some reason my mind wouldn't let me rest. PJ looked even worse off than I did though, "You doing ok?"

Penelope shook her head, "Nope." She adjusted herself so she was half laying down and stared at the roof of the truck as she continued, "I had kind of made peace with the idea of my mom being dead. I had even accepted the fact that the God of the Underworld might be holding her soul hostage… I thought I would at least be able to free her soul into Elysium or something. But now… now the stupid God of War tells me that my mom's alive. That Hades took her right before she died." PJ closed her eyes and sighed heavily, "I'm just terrified of getting my hopes up. I'm scared I'll mess something up and lose her all over again."

"Well, you're not doing this by yourself. We'll all be there; we're a team," I offered her a smile, but I didn't get one back. "What?"

"It's just… if we fail, if all this boils over and ends up exploding in our faces… will things lines up like they did during the Trojan war?" PJ wouldn't even look at me; she just stared at the ceiling like it had wronged her in someway.

"You mean, will it be Athena against Poseidon?" I shrugged; I hadn't really thought about that possibility, "It is a possibility."

Penelope glanced at me without moving her head, "Will you side with her? I mean, I know how much honoring your mom means to you… and I don't want you to have to pick sides or anything, I just…"

I tried not to smirk as she struggled to find words, "No. No matter what happens, I'll fight beside you."

"Why?" I was a little hurt by the shocked look on her face.

"Because we're friends," my voice had an edge to it. I quickly cleared my throat to shake it off, "And you saved my life twice now… even though you _are_ the reason I was in danger in the first place, I still owe you." I smirked as Penelope finally smiled.

"Yea, ok. Thanks, Alec."

* * *

 _Hehe, what did you all think of the zebra bit?_

 _I thought it would be fun to introduce the whole speaking to horses thing early and zebras are related to horses._

 _Please check in with me on Friday's, that will be official update day for this Fic. Can't wait to show you all next chapter!_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
_

 _*** I do love Reviews...  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	30. XXX Penelope

_Hi there!_

 _Thank yous to everyone who Followed, Favorited and Reviewed this little fic._ _Pretzelina, dusk4eva21, LiaRegie and dogbiscuit1967; extra thank yous for taking a few seconds and sharing some comments with me. =)_

* * *

 **30\. Penelope**

After Alec said that he would fight by my side if this huge misunderstanding flared up into an all out war, I actually relaxed a little.

I laid my head back on one of the bails of hay and was out like a light before I even realized it.

Now, of all the new things that I had encountered after realizing that I was a half-blood. The crazy real dreams were probably one of the weirdest things to get used to.

I mean, dreaming is supposed to be kind of fun right? You're in a safe place where you can sort out your subconscious and sometimes even indulge in the unreal; like flying or something.

But since I'm a half-blood, I have such realistic dreams that I can actually feel where I've gotten hurt in my dream... even _after_ I have woken up.

Oh, and my Dad can apparently use my dreams like a facetime messaging service.

* * *

I was standing on the beach back at Camp Half-blood looking out over the water.

The wind blew some stray hair into my face; it tickled the end of my nose.

A wave washed up on the shore and quickly swept past my ankles. It pulled some of the sand around my feet as the wave rolled back into the bay.

Goosebumps suddenly formed on my shoulder and when I looked over to search for a reason, I made out a figure standing right behind me so I turned around to face him.

"Dad?"

I'm not sure why I asked. He looked exactly the same as when he hijacked my weird mystical meeting with the Oracle. He was a head taller than me, black curly hair and very familiar bright green eyes smiled back at me. He was even wearing the dark blue shirt with little red crabs all over it. That was the shirt that my mom secretly kept at the back of her closet, the shirt I _knew_ mom had bought for him.

His shimmering green eyes and perfectly straight smile drove me completely crazy.

I wanted to scream.

How could he look at me like that after everything that had happened… everything he had _let_ happen to me and my mom… "Stop looking at me like that!" I heard my echoing voice break horribly as I spoke.

Poseidon's grin shrunk considerably, but a small smile still remained on his face, "Being able to see you on a T.V. was pretty interesting. It was incredible watching you work with the other demigods... seeing some of your power. It was pretty incredible. I don't get to see my kid too often though; you're going to have to give me a little leeway, Penelope."

I immediately clamped down on the inside of my cheek and focused on the sharp pain in an attempt to keep my voice even, "If you really care so much, why did you leave?" I already knew the answer to the question. You can't expect a god to give up all his responsibility and power, but I wanted to hear what he had to say for himself.

"I had to," his green eyes still crinkled, "Sally; your mother… leaving her was one of the most difficult... possibly _the_ most difficult thing I have had to do in over a century."

"She loved you."

My Dad's smile looked a bit strained, "And I loved her. I almost gave up everything for her."

I felt my jaw drop.

I narrowed my eyes and tried to find any kind of tell that would indicate that Poseidon was lying, "But you didn't. You returned to Olympus and left my mom with a baby."

"Yes, I did. You're mother is actually the one who reminded me of the importance of my duty. She had to give me a bit of a push when it was my time to leave," my Dad's gaze didn't leave me for a second. "And when I found out she was pregnant, I knew that I could never be with her again. It would have been too dangerous."

"But, Mom said that you _did_ came back. You visited me on my birthday every year… you left me gifts," If it was really that dangerous then why the heck had he risked coming to see me?

He nodded his head, "That was foolish of me. But visiting you for a few fleeting minutes, once a year… I couldn't help myself. I had to see you; wanted to see you grow. But I couldn't jeopardize you or your mother anymore than that. The only way to keep you both safe was to hide you away; that's why I bound your powers. I had to pretend you didn't exist. Penelope, I never wanted you to lead a hero's life. Your mother never wanted this for you either. That's why I stayed away."

"But now _you're_ the one asking me to do this. _You_ need me to be the hero," I felt the anger bubbling up from my gut. It was red hot and I wasn't sure for how long I could keep it at bay.

"I know I am asking too much of you. But whoever is behind this made it personal when they went after you and took your mother. They want you involved in this," the shadow that fell over my dad's face made me shiver.

I looked over the bay again and saw dark clouds gathering in the distance. There was a faint clash of thunder as I looked back at my dad, "I'm the scapegoat in all this. They want me to get blamed for everything so that you'll look bad."

"And that is why we can't let that happen."

Poseidon looked livid now. He actually didn't even look like my dad anymore…

His anger almost seemed like a separate entity; I could feel it growing around us and it scared me.

I guess the version of himself that he shared with with me, the same one he came to my mother with, was his soft-side. It was easy to forget he was a really powerful god when I just saw my smiling dad standing there in swim trunks and tropical button down shirts.

I took a small step back from him and bowed my head a little.

"No," Poseidon's face shifted and all the shadow and darkness fell away as he saw me move away from him.

I may not have known my dad all that well, but with the few stories that my mom had told me and the events of the past week and a half, I knew that my dad really did care about me. I wasn't sure why I was special though, since Gods were said to have hundreds of children over the centuries. I guess it was really that _my mom_ was so special… and I was the byproduct of their relationship. "...but you weren't supposed to have children. Did you even want me?" The words spilled out of my mouth before I realized that I had spoken them out loud.

The silence was probably a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity before he answered.

"No. I didn't want anymore children. I didn't want to break the oath that my brother's and I had taken." Then I saw a very strange thing; a goofy smirk pulled at the edges of my Dad's mouth, "You're mother was the only mortal to tempt me in quite a few years. Her mind and determination were so intriguing. And her heart and passion were intoxicating. Even her selflessness was…"

My cheeks grew red as he talked about her; the woman my mom was before she had to sacrifice everything for me, "I know a lot about her selflessness."

Poseidon gazed at me with such sad eyes, I almost wanted to hug him.

… are you allowed to hug a God?

"We're going to have to do something horrible to honor that selflessness, Penelope... You need to forget about saving your mother."

I looked at the man in front of me with so much confusion. Just a minute before he had appeared happy while he reminisced about my mother, but now… now he looked _broken_. And he was spouting off _crazy_ things. I couldn't find any suitable words, so I just shook my head.

"Yes," He stared at me with such determination, I couldn't look away, "I know Ares told you about your mother still being alive. And I know that you want to save her and how concerned you are about losing her again… But you can't stage a rescue."

"Well, are _you_ going to save her then?" I asked as the pain and hatred began to boil inside of me again.

He shook his head, "I'm involved more than I should be already. I can't risk doing more. But you can't save your mom. She sacrificed herself _for you_."

"What? No!" I staggered backwards further into the water, "I can't just leave her in the underworld. I have to at least try to save her!"

My head started to spin as I thought of all the things that my mom had sacrificed for me throughout my life. Her career, her happiness, her love, her _whole life_ had been sacrificed to protect me.

… the very least I could do was get her out of Hades domain!

I started to feel dizzy.

I grabbed my head with both hands. I glanced at my dad and noticed that he was still talking to me; he was still trying to convince me that I shouldn't save my mom…

But I couldn't hear his voice anymore. All I could hear was a low buzzing in my ear as I thought about how much I wanted to face the God of the Underworld and give him a piece of my mind.

A sharp pain shot across my head and I fell backwards into the water.

* * *

But just when I thought the water was going to engulf me, I was suddenly falling through the air.

I landed pretty hard on my butt; it might have even be hard enough to leave bruises on my real body too.

My dad had vanished.

All I saw now was the evil dark cavern that I had been thinking about visiting again.

' _Penelope Jackson.'_

The same voice from my previous nightmare rang through the cavern. I looked around expecting to see the smokey tentacle head materialize again and creepily stare at me like before.

' _Yes, I see that the exchange went perfectly. And she suspects nothing?'_

But at his question, I realized that he wasn't talking to me. I crept around the big boulder that I had landed next to and saw the outline of a tall figure hidden in the shadows on the other side of the great chasm.

' _Nothing, my lord. She's as foolish and ignorant as the rest.'_

The voice of the lackey guy sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it.

' _Excellent.'_

' _My lord. I don't mean to speak out of turn, but was all this extra deception really necessary? I would have happily brought you what I stole directly…'_

' _You? My dear boy...'_ the chasm voice chuckled and scoffed, ' _you have shown your limits. Without my intervention, you would have failed to complete this task.'_

' _But my lord…'_

' _Enough. There is no need for argument. You have performed valiantly in your other duties. Zeus's anger has continued to grow. Poseidon has reluctantly played his most desperate card and now we can use it against him. Soon, you shall have everything that was promised to you, my loyal little servant. Your reward and your revenge will be here shortly. As soon as I have both items in hand… No. NO. She is here.'_

' _What? Why?! Did you bring her here, my lord?'_

I still couldn't see my old friend, the smoky octopus head. And the other figure, who was completely cloaked, took an even deeper step into the shadows.

I couldn't figure out how exactly it happened, but something completely froze my limbs. I couldn't move anything; the most I was able to do was blink!

' _No. Why would I summon the girl here?'_ The master's voice sounded annoyed now, ' _Her father's blood is too powerful… she is too changeable, too unpredictable. The girl brought herself.'_

' _Impossible! That canot be. She's untrained; unfocused.'_

' _Obviously your training and focus pale in comparison to the girl's raw power!'_

I wasn't sure if I should just be terrified that the chasm voice was now back to concentrating on me or a bit flattered that he believed that I was pretty powerful. What I really needed to figure out though, was how this dream was going to help us in the quest...

' _Ah, I see… you wish to dream of your quest. Well, young half-blood; allow me to oblige your request.'_

The cavern melted away.

* * *

The new room took some time to come into focus.

All I could tell at first was that the walls were painted black. And right in front of me was a huge empty chair.

As the room became more clear, I could see that the room was dark and damp. It was covered in dust and debris filled the corners and littered the floor. The walls that I had assumed were painted, were actually black marble with so much dirt smeared across it that it looked like a paint stroke.

That huge empty chair… it was a throne made out of fused human bones.

And right at the foot of the dais was a body.

It was a woman, and every cell of my body told me that she was dead. She was too still; her chest didn't move at all. And it looked like she was carelessly thrown onto the floor like a piece of trash.

… I recognized the clothes… but I had to be sure.

I swallowed thickly and crouched down. I carefully picked the wild dark hair out of the face of the woman.

... It was my mom.

I had to cover my mouth with my hand to keep from screaming.

As I pulled back my hand, I realized that my skin was beginning to shrivel. It was drying out and crinkling like a mummy.

I was grabbed around the shoulders and pulled away from my mother. And before I could form any protests, skeletons dressed in ancient Greek armor popped into existence and draped me in fine silk scarves and placed dead roses all throughout my long hair. Every time a rose was set into my hair, it scratched or pricked me and I began to feel the effects of poison crawling through my body.

My heart began to slow, my mind became foggy and I was beginning to have trouble breathing.

… I was slowly dying…

' _Hail the conquering hero!'_

* * *

 _Pretzelina - thanks! Updates every Friday._

 _dusk4eva21 - no, I felt like Grover remaining a male still fit my story. If you continue reading, I think you'll feel the same._

 _LiaRegie - thanks! glad you enjoyed it._

 _dogbiscuit - I know, I'm sorry. I wrote a few different interactions with Ares, but was not happy with any of them..._

 _Thank you all for still hanging in there with me!_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
_

 _*** Reviews are the best and are very motivating...  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	31. XXXI Penelope

_Good Morning! Happy Friday and almost weekend._

 _Followers and Favortie-ers; I love you! Reviewers:_ _LiaRegie and dogbiscuit1967; you guys are the very best. Thank you!_

* * *

 **31\. Penelope**

 _Screech._

"Crud..."

"Ouch..."

A hay bale fell on my leg.

I woke up with a jolt thinking I was still stuck in that throne room while I slowly suffocated and turned into a mummy. I might have screamed a little because all three of the guys were looking at me with really anxious expressions, "What…"

I couldn't finish my question because Grover put a hand over my mouth and forced me to be quiet, "Shhh, I think we've stopped. We need to hide before they come back here and check on the animals."

Alec of course, simply whipped out his Yankee cap from his back pocket and disappeared without a trace. But Grover, Will and I had to quickly stack up some of the loose hay bales and crouch down behind them. We had just settled behind our wall of hay when the back door of the truck was thrown open.

I realized, only after three seconds of listening to the idiot that was driving these animals around, that I _totally_ wanted to punch the guy in the face. He had pissed off the lion, teased the antelope and made some horrific jokes about being sawed in half to the poor zebra.

I guess Grover didn't like how the animals were being treated either because I actually heard him growl.

Will had to grab the back of my and Grover's shirts to keep us in place. He shook his head at us and scowled as we both tried to go after the moron in charge of the animals, "Wait for the right moment."

 _Knock, knock, knock._

The animal bully, Maurice, called out, "What do you want, Eddie"

"Huh?" I assumed it was Eddie who had yelled back.

 _Knock, knock, knock._

"What the heck is with all the knocking? I'm trying to make sure these things are still alive back here," Maurice grumbled as he hopped down from the back of the truck and went to find his coworker.

Before anyone could stop me, I sprang up and went to the zebra's cage but Will beat me to it. He started picking the lock on Zelda's cage, but it wasn't going fast enough, "Sorry, we don't have the time." I uncapped Riptide and easily cut through the lock.

Grover stood in the way of the zebra and began mumbling and waving his hand around in a circle. A few golden sparks fell out of his fingertips before he was done.

The zebra looked to me, ' _Thank you for freeing me, my Lady.'_

"Uh, you're welcome," it was still very strange to be able to communicate with the zebra. But it was kind of cool when she bowed to me and Grover before she jumped out of the truck and began trotting down the street.

"If you're going to free the other animals, do it quick. They haven't spotted the zebra yet, but they might come check on the other two when they realize one's gotten away," Alec hadn't reappeared yet; he was still using his cap of invisibility. But his voice was coming from right outside the truck trailer so I assumed he had eyes on everyone.

Will cut open the lock for the antelope as I freed the lion. We made sure the Grover gave explicit instructions for the lion to not eat _anyone_ … including us and his travel buddies. After Grover gave them each the same sparkly gold blessing thing, they were out of the truck and wandering the streets too.

"What exactly did you bless them with?" Will asked, confirming my guess about what the satyr had done.

"Just a little sanctuary nature magic," Grover quietly explained as we hurriedly gathered our things and snuck out of the animal transport truck, "They'll find water, food and shade until they find a safe place to live again."

"Wow… can you do the blessing on us too?" I huffed as we had to walk around the people who had stopped to stare and take pictures of the animals that were now freely walking down the strip.

Grover shook his head, "It only works on wild animals…"

"So it might work on PJ, then?" Alec chuckled as he materialized right next to me.

I gave him the best glare I could muster… but I was so tired I'm pretty sure I looked as ferocious as a sad puppy.

Alec smiled and held his hands up in surrender anyway, "Just a joke. You looked like you might need a laugh."

"Leave the jokes to me and Will," I said as spoke through a huge yawn.

All three of them had laughed at my comment, but I was too out of it to really care. I was tired because the nightmare hadn't let me sleep well. I was sore since it was way too realistic; I could feel the beginnings of a bruise forming on my tail bone. And I was starting to feel a little helpless. We weren't in California yet. I looked around and immediately knew we were in Las Vegas, which means we had gotten closer… but still no Los Angeles.

I had seen Las Vegas on television shows a lot. And Smelly Gabe used to watch the World Series of Poker every time it was on, so I'd seen some aerial shots of the strip and recognized a lot of the hotels.

We were right between Excalibur and New York, New York. I found it a bit annoying that we were next to a place that reminded me so much of home, but was _nowhere_ near the real thing…

We walked down the strip looking for a convenience store or gas station so we could buy some food and use their bathroom. As we passed the huge, showy hotels, I started naming them off, "MGM, Tropicana... Luxor, Mandalay Bay… Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

I stopped and stared at it.

The place was enormous… how had I not seen it before?

The building was painted a rich emerald green with bright white trim and it looked like the neon pink lotus flowers were placed in any spare space they could find. And the smell _… oh man…_ the scent that was wafted toward us from inside the hotel, was _wonderful_. It smelled kind of flowery, but with hints of vanilla and fresh linen. Will, Grover and Alec seemed to be just as amazed at the smell, they stood next to me with their noses in the air and wide eyes staring around at the big green structure.

"Hey there!" A man in a velvet green jacket and shiny black top hat appeared right in front of us, "Oh, you all look so tired. Would you like to come inside and rest for a bit?" Now this guy was overly happy and his smile looked a bit plasticy, but he definitely _wasn't_ a monster.

"Yea, we'd love to… but we don't have enough money for a place like this. Thanks anyway," Will sounded so depressed I almost hugged him.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that," the excited bellhop said as he waved us on to follow him through the doors, "Just put your feet up for a little while and relax!"

" _Whoa_ …" We all had the same reaction as we stepped through the doorway and took in our new surroundings.

Except for the little empty counter at the back wall, the entire lobby was covered in games; there were more games than I had ever seen in one place. There were tons of old classic cabinet video games lining one wall; the new cabinet games lined the opposite wall. There were stations for _every_ console system I could think of, along with virtual reality games and puzzles. And every carnival or fair game you could possibly imagine were placed randomly throughout the first floor.

It. Was. _Amazing_.

The doorman led us over to the small desk with a sign that read 'check-in,' "Hello, m'lady."

The woman that appeared behind the counter wore a similar green jacket as our door-guy friend, but her's was much more tailored and feminine. Her hair was elegantly twisted to the side of her head and her makeup was absolutely perfect. And the glasses she wore framed her face like they were meant to be there, automatically adjusting to every light level. She looked like she had just walked off the pages of a fashion magazine.

I felt even more disgusting in my old-new water park shirt that smelled way too much like a petting zoo.

The lady seemed cheery though and greeted us with a wide smile, "Well, hello there." She wasn't a monster either, but I had a strange feeling when I looked at her… like I was forgetting something _really_ important.

"This is H, she will take care of anything you might need while you're staying with us," our door-guy bowed so low to us his top hat toppled to the floor. He quickly scooped up his hat and shuffled away muttering unnecessary apologies.

I chuckled and looked over at H. There was a split second where I thought her eyes were glowing red behind her glasses, but I must have been mistaken because when she looked over at us again her eyes were regular old blue.

"Would you all like a beverage?" H asked as she gestured to a shiny silver tray that held four different drinks.

I hadn't noticed the tray when we first walked up to the counter… in all honesty I hadn't even noticed the woman until the doorman had greeted her.

I guess I was much more tired than I originally thought I was.

But the drinks… the drinks gave me a really weird feeling.

There was a specific drink for each of us. The glass closest to me was a dark blue color and I'm pretty sure it was the blue cherry coke that I had been obsessed with for years. One of the other glasses looked like fresh lemonade, one was definitely some kind of herbal tea and the last one was probably strawberry milk.

Grover quickly grabbed the mug of hot tea and inhaled deeply over the cup, "Oh man, smells _just_ like home…"

I smiled and took the glass of blue coke. I sniffed it carefully and could smell the district cherry of my favorite drink, "Wow…" Will and Alec had already grabbed their drinks and taken a few sips.

Alec smiled and shrugged; I guess he knew I was feeling uneasy, "Doesn't seem poisoned or anything."

"Of course it isn't poisoned, what a silly notion," H's laugh was airy and had a beautiful tone.

I nudged Grover as the check-in lady busied herself with the small laptop that I suddenly noticed behind the counter, "Do you… smell anything... _out of place_?"

The satyr looked around and shook his head, "No monsters for miles."

"Ok…" I took a swig of the blue cherry coke and immediately felt at ease; like I was wrapped in a warm, relaxing blanket.

What was I so worried about anyway?

H typed away at her computer as we each drained our drinks. I placed my empty glass back onto the shiny tray, "We don't have a lot of money though. We're not going to be able to stay very long, I'm afraid." I didn't want H to go through any trouble if we were only going to be able to stay for a few hours, "If you could just point us in the direction of a restaurant and maybe a locker room so we could clean up a little?"

"Nonsense!" H giggled at me like what I said was the funniest thing she had heard all year. She pulled four bright green cards out from somewhere under the counter and handed each of us our very own hotel cards that was personalized with our names, "Here are your room keys. They also double as your cash cards which work in all of our restaurants as well as every game on the floor."

"Oh, that's so generous..." I started to say.

"I'm sorry, we can't pay for anything but a few meals," Alec stated in a flat tone.

H's smile grew even wider, "No, no. Don't you even think about that! The bill is already taken care of, my dears. You don't even have to worry about extra fees or tips. Just take the elevators all the way to the top; you're room is suite 4001. And please let me know if you need absolutely anything."

I felt my jaw fall open as the check-in lady continued to talk; this was a dream, _right_? I mean, we must have been mistaken for some celebrity's kids or something, "Um, how much is on the cards?"

"Don't worry about that dear," H stared directly at me. Her smile was still in place, but her gaze made me feel antsy. When I blinked once, I saw red rimming her irises behind the glasses; I blinked again, the red was gone. He voice was sugary sweet as she spoke, "Just swipe the card when you need to pay for anything and it will all be taken care of."

Part of me still wanted to ask for more of an explanation, but Grover pulled my arm and led the way over to the elevator. Will punched the button for our floor and we zoomed skyward.

When we got to our room, Alec swiped his key-card to open the door.

And as we stepped into a place that resembled a palace fit for a God... I completely forgot why I had _ever questioned anything_ about the Lotus Hotel.

* * *

 _Can't wait until next chapter, eek!_

 _Any hypothesis?_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _*** Reviews really do inspire me...  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	32. XXXII Alexander

_Hey there!_

 _My apologies for this very late upload._

 _Many thanks to Followers and Favoirte-ers of last chapter. LiaRegie, Glitch4ever, dogbiscuit1967, Libb23, and 0fictionluver0; can't thank you enough for the lovely reviews._

 _Hope you all enjoy!_

* * *

 **Alexander's POV**

The room was _enormous…_

The sitting room alone was the size of the Athena cabin back at home. But in addition to the u-shaped couches, that were big enough to act as beds for _all_ of us, there were four huge suites complete with king size beds and full bathrooms with marble walk in showers.

We all laughed as we each ran to claim a room. I immediately jumped into the shower and blasted the water until it was steaming. I quickly striped and jumped under the water and scrubbed the layers of dirt and grime off of myself.

It felt _amazing_ to be clean again.

I walked around my room and began opening all the drawers and the closet just to see if there was a fluffy robe I could wear while I avoided putting my gross clothes back on. But instead of just a robe, I found clean, still warm from the dryer, freshly pressed shorts and shirts.

"What the heck…"

It was a little weird but I couldn't pass up clothes that didn't smell like a zoo. I picked out a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a bright orange t-shirt. There wasn't a Camp Half-blood logo on it, but it made me less homesick so I just went with it.

When I got out to the living room, no one else was there. I guess they were all still cleaning up and getting changed. I plopped down onto the long sofa and flipped on the tv that was built into one of the walls.

There wasn't really anything on, so I channel surfed and was still browsing when Grover and Will joined me.

"Anything good on?" Will asked as he leaned back and settled himself into one of the corners of the couch.

"Not really. The Discovery channel had something interesting about sharks on, but I wanted to see if there was anything else," I kept hitting the up button but there didn't seem to be an end to how many channels this television had. I was already up to channel 243 and it still hadn't rolled back to channel 1 yet.

"Man, I could really use more of that tea." Grover suddenly grinned and motioned to the coffee table that was in the middle of the sofas, "Oh, hey look!"

I frowned a little as Grover took the tea cup and Will grabbed the strawberry milk. There was a glass filled with blue tinted coke and a tall glass of lemonade as well.

… exactly like Miss H had for us down at the check in table.

"Wait… where did those drinks come from?" I looked around the room, not really knowing what I expected to find. There wasn't anyone or anything other than us.

I glanced at Will and Grover and noticed the expression of calm that they both had. I sighed a little and grabbed the glass of lemonade and took a measured sip.

... _nothing_.

It still didn't taste strange at all; no poison or any kind of tampering. But the knot in my stomach didn't go away. I liked magic well enough. I mean, I love my invisibility cap, but magically materializing drinks whenever someone mentioned that their thirsty… that's more than a little strange. But maybe the servants are invisible too, or maybe they have some kind of voice activated beverage system in the table.

You never really know with technology today, but any possible reasoning that I came up with still didn't help my stomach settle.

Penelope finally came out of her room just as I was finishing my drink, "Nice, more blue cherry coke." She smiled and gulped her drink down quickly. After she put the glass back on the table, she stood up right in front of the television and started rubbing her hands together excitedly, "Now who is up for trying those cash cards out?"

Grover and Will jumped up and agreed without a second thought.

"Oh man… did you see that bungee jumping thing by the elevators…"

"I so need to try that rock climbing wall…"

I wasn't as excited by the idea of using the cash cards that we suspiciously didn't have to pay for, "Shouldn't we get some food and sleep some first? I mean we probably can't stay here very long; we still need to find a way to California."

"Oh, come on Alec," PJ looked at me with a sad puppy dog face, "Can't we just unwind for a little while before we have to be all responsible?"

I realized that there was absolutely no way that I was going to win the argument. I stood up, slung the bag that Ares had given us on my back, made sure that Will had his shoulder pack/ quiver, and followed the other three back out to the hallway and down to the first floor again.

* * *

As soon as the elevator doors opened Will, Grover and Penelope ran out in different directions. Will headed toward a dart game, Grover found a newer arcade machine that let you shoot disgusting people that were throwing trash everywhere and Penelope went straight for the bungee jumping thing.

I didn't really know what I wanted to do, I just wondered around the floor and looked at all the different games.

After walking around for a few minutes, I did find a really cool virtual reality game that let you design a simulated city. I built an entire 3D model of New York City, but added a few of my own ideas that adjusted some of the existing landmarks and added a few of my own that I dreamed of actually building one day. It felt like my turn on the machine lasted for hours, but when I took the vision off, it seemed that only a few minutes had passed. The other kids were still standing in line and still looked excited and were waiting patiently for their turn.

I passed the game visor over to the next person and began walking around again. I found Will at an archery video game. He smiled and waved but quickly focused back on his targets. Grover was scaling the rock climbing wall without a safety harness; he had attracted quite a crowd as he hopped from one foot hold to the other with complete ease. He was a bit busy trying to keep his shoes on to notice me when I tried to get his attention.

I finally found Penelope as she got to the front of the line for a virtual laser-tag game, "Hey PJ."

"Hey! Isn't this place incredible?! Are you having fun?" Penelope asked as she watched the kid who had just strapped himself into the game; he wasn't very good at the shooting simulator but he appeared to be having fun still.

"Um.. yea. It's great, but shouldn't we be getting back upstairs? We should probably get a really good night's sleep while we can. You never know what we'll run into later," I didn't want to sound nagging, but we really did need to get some food and rest.

"Aww, just a little longer," PJ wasn't even looking at me anymore. The other kid had had his fun on the laser tag game and it was her turn now, "I'll catch up with you right after this, ok?" And without even a glance back, she geared up for the game and began to shoot the imaginary enemies.

"How are enjoying your stay so far, Alexander?"

I spun around and found myself face to face with Miss H, "Oh fine… I mean, good. Thank you."

She adjusted her glasses, which had auto shaded themselves a little darker in the bright florescent lights, "Some fresh air might do you some good. I can escort you outside if you like," Miss H smiled and clasped her hands together in a weird formal way.

"No, I'm fine. It's just… my friends and I need to go soon. We have a lot of stuff to take care of," I explained as I looked over at Penelope's score board. She was up 640 points.

"It must be frustrating not having people listen to reason. Especially when those people are supposed to be your friends," Miss H gave me this sympathetic look, that caused some anger to bubble up.

Unfortunately she was right, it kind of felt like I was being ignored because I was trying to get this quest back on track, "Yea… I mean, it happens sometimes. It's just that your games are really fun and they all got a little distracted. Thanks for your concern though."

I turned and hurried away from Miss H before she could say anything else.

* * *

I found a little snack shop next to some of the old classic arcade games. They sold some fun game themed food. I got the ' _Mr. Pacman burger and ghost fries'_ which was really just a cheeseburger with a little triangle cut out of it and rainbow colored french fries. I didn't order a drink, but it came with another glass of fresh squeezed lemonade.

When I was finished I walked around and played a few of the older cabinet games; these were the games that me and my dad used to play when I was younger. My Dad used to love teaching me all these games. He said they would help me learn strategic concepts as well as creative thinking. When he wasn't busy with work we used to pick out a new game and play it until I could easily beat him.

I got a little lost in my own head as I reminisced about my Dad and our father-son interactions. My brain was so caught up in my own memories that I didn't look where I was going and I walked straight into someone and knocked us both over, "Oh… ouch. Oh, no. I so sorry. Are you ok?"

"Yea, dude. No worries," the other boy stood up and offered me his hand. I grabbed it and he hauled me back to my feet, "Are you ok, man? You look a little down."

"I…" I took a double take as I looked over the kid in front of me. He was wearing really wide bell bottom, powder blue pants with a matching jacket and shirt. He looked like an extra in a bad seventies disco movie, "Um… yea, I'm... fine. Thanks."

"Hey man, you want to partner up on a game with me?"

I looked around and saw that my friends were still occupied with other machines, "Yea, sure."

"Far out, let's go," he led us over to an available sharpshooter game and we swiped our cards.

"So, are you enjoying your stay here?" I really didn't know what to say to the guy, so I tried some generic small talk.

"Totally! This place is killer," he excitedly fired at the electric moving targets, "I've only been here two weeks and, it's like every day, there's an even more out of sight game waiting to be played."

"Um, yea… totally rad," I remembered the phrase from a movie I watched once and it sounded like it fit into our conversation.

We finished the game; I beat him by a lot. "Sweet shooting, dude. See you around."

I shook my head, trying to figure out if what I had just encountered was real or an image in my head. But as I looked around the game floor, and actually examined some of the other kids, I started to notice strange things.

Many of these kids were wearing outdated clothes. There were several dressed just like my sharpshooter partner, but even more that looked like they were wearing _older_ antique clothing. I even saw a girl wearing one of those 1920's hats that look like a felt swim cap.

"Everything alright, Alexander?"

I looked to my left and found that Miss H had appeared next to me, "Um, yea… _great…_ everything's great."

"Are you sure? Nothing I can assist you with?" her smile looked fake and I thought I saw her eyes flare behind her shaded glasses.

"No, no. I'm great. Don't worry about me. I just… lost my friends. Need to go see where they are," I kind of speed walked away from Miss H and headed for the last place that I saw Will.

* * *

"Come on Will. We need to go, I have a really bad feeling about this place," I had found the son of Apollo at the carnival game where you have to shoot out the star on a little slip of paper with a cruddy peashooter gun.

He wasn't very happy with me trying to pull him away from the game, "Stop it Alec. I've almost got this."

"But we need to get the others and get out of here. We need to get to Los Angeles," I mumbled under my breathe just in case anyone was listening in.

"Why?"

I stared at him for a long second, "To get on with our quest."

"What quest?" He looked at me with complete confusion.

"The quest… to get the _really important thing_ back to New York."

Will shrugged, "I have no idea what you're talking about. He turned back to his game and ignored me again.

I glanced around and spotted Grover over by a catch and release fishing game, "Grover! Grover?"

He didn't even look at me, "What's up Alec?"

"We need to get out of here," I took the electronic fishing pole from his hands and placed it back on the gaming system, "I think this place if affecting us… well it isn't affecting me I guess, but… it's affecting everyone else. We need to get out of here."

The satyr blinked at me a few times with a vacant expression, "But why would we leave this place? They have everything we could ever want here."

"And you have just been upgraded to the Platinum Card. Don't you want to see what our Platform level has to offer?" Miss H held a shiny silver card out to Grover.

I immediately pushed the card back toward her, "No thanks, we were just leaving. We just need to get our other friends before we go." But when I looked over at Grover, he was gone. He had gone over to a game that allowed you to be virtually transported to anywhere in the world. Grover apparently wanted to visit the Grand Canyon.

"I told you it was difficult when people refuse to listen to logic and reason. Your friends don't understand you, Alexander; they don't respect you or your intelligence. They don't deserve your assistance," Miss H put her hand on my shoulder and smiled at me sadly, "you don't have to be here. This place isn't meant for you."

"Wait…" I jerked my shoulder away so that her hand would fall away, "What do you mean this isn't meant for me?"

"I've been trying to explain it to you, but you keep running off before I can explain further," Miss H's voice was calm and even but I saw a flash of something behind those glasses again, "Your friends… well they are simply pawns in this ridiculous game that the Gods are playing among themselves. But you… I want to help you escape all this Alexander."

I felt my eyes grow wide as my eyebrows shot up, "You… want to help me… but why would you help me and not my friends?"

She swiped her hand in front of her, as if she was physically brushing the question away, "Do your friends really deserve to be saved? They won't even _listen_ to you. I think they deserve to stay here for at least a few decades before I set them free…"

… _A few decades…_

My brain shifted into overdrive and I began to filter through every old Greek story that I knew. I got a strong whiff of some flowery scent as my mind whirled around.

Then it hit me, "The drinks… you _did_ lace them with something. Like the story about the Lotus Tree that Odysseus found… but I didn't taste anything strange in the lemonade?"

"But I didn't want to dose _you_ with anything, my dear. Honestly I wanted you to leave as soon as you arrived. I have no quarrel with you or your mother," Miss H removed her glasses and I saw that her eyes held the same fire behind them as most of the Gods that I had met, "Your mother was always very kind to me, she never treated me as anything but an equal. And she was always a friend to my husband…"

"You're… you're…" I watched as Miss… Mrs. H made a cup appear out of thin air. She swirled around the contents of the glass which made it splash against the edge; I could smell my dad's homemade lemonade and the birthday cake from my fifth birthday party… it was _definitely_ nectar, "You're H… the Goddess of Youth."

She grinned and motioned to the Game Floor filled with children, "Hebe? Yes. I thought all this would have given me away...

* * *

 _I know... a cliffhanger... I'm so sorry. BUT next chapter will be up tomorrow! This chapter was late, but next chapter is going to be early. Hope that makes up for it!_

 _I would love to hear your thoughts on Hebe._

 _Guess we'll see how they get out of this tomorrow!_

 _LiaRegie - happy belated bday!_

 _Glitch4ever - I will try, but updates once a week even get tricky sometimes. Adulting... it sucks._

 _dogbiscuit1967 - I have a feeling you know exactly where I'm going with this..._

 _Libb23 - Thanks!_

 _0fictionluver0 - Thanks! Really appreciate the kind words._

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
_

 _*** Reviews really are the very best...  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	33. XXXIII Alexander

_Good morning all!_

 _Followers and Favoriters; love you all! Pretzelina, LiaRegie, dogbiscuit1967 and prince of the seas; you all are the best!_

 _... And as promised..._

* * *

 **Alexander's POV**

"You're H… the Goddess of Youth."

She grinned and motioned to the Game Floor filled with children, "Hebe? Yes. I thought all this would have given me away sooner, but you seem much more attached to your friends than I had previously imagined. Apparently they are very distracting for you."

"But why are you keeping us here?" I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I had completely missed that there was a Goddess running the hotel.

"Oh, I am just following orders," Hebe chuckled lightly, "No one bothers to tell me the _whole_ plan. They don't think I'm bright enough to understand. Of course, to most, I am _just_ a cupbearer!" The Goddesses voice was suddenly harsh and dripped with resentment and hatred. But when she looked at me again, she expression softened, "But you, son of Athena… I did not give you any of the Lotus fruit. _You_ are free to leave at anytime."

"But what about my friends?" I already knew the answer, but I needed to draw out the conversation and possibly get her to reveal more details of this plan… even though she claimed to not know anything.

Hebe shook her head, "I'm sorry, but they will have to stay. At least until after the Summer Solstice."

I nodded my head and pretended to show understanding for what the Goddess was doing, but meanwhile, I was scanning the room for where Penelope was. She was the most powerful... I needed to get to her first or we would never stand a _chance_ at getting out of here.

A couple of kids came running towards me and I took a step back so that they had to run between me and Hebe. As soon as they blocked me from the Goddess's view, I sprinted behind a tall deer hunter game and bolted toward the squirt gun race that PJ was currently playing. She was winning of course, and I didn't know if that was due to her vastly improved aim or her power over water.

I stumbled as I stopped short and grabbed Penelope's arm, "Come on, PJ. We need to go, _now_."

She wriggled her arm, but I didn't let go, "What, why?!"

"Bad things. There's a goddess trying to keep you here," I pulled her away from the carnival game and began hunting for Grover and Will.

"What are you talking about. There is nothing bad about this place; it's _amazing_. Everything you could ever want is here."

I glanced around for Hebe or any of her doormen, "Geez, the lotus plant even makes people sound the same." We ducked behind another game machine and wove between a few other groups of kids, "Will!"

Will was using his magical bow and arrows to easily win an archery game, "Hey Alec, look!" He excitedly held up a little stuffed toy fish.

"Great, we have to go," I grabbed him with my other hand and pulled both Penelope and Will along as we went to find Grover.

But the satyr was nowhere on the Game Floor.

A crackling sound erupted over our heads as a someone began to talk through an intercom system, "Alexander Chase, please meet your party at the check-in desk. Thank you."

"Oh cool! Maybe they have those Platinum cards that I keep hearing about," Will smiled from ear to ear as he and Penelope began dragging me instead.

And there, right in front of Hebe's desk stood the Goddess herself. She had an arm wrapped protectively around Grover's shoulders and she was just handing him a mug of the herbal tea that she had been spiking especially for him, "Ah, there you are Alec. How please, don't make this difficult. Simple let your friends go back to enjoying their time here at the Lotus Hotel and one of my doormen will escort you safely off the property."

I shook my head, "Sorry, can't leave without my friends."

"Well, I'm afraid that we are at an impasse then," she helped tip Grover's cup back so that he drank every last drop of the Lotus fruit laced drink. He looked starry-eyes and completely oblivious to what was going on around him, "Because your friends _cannot_ leave."

"What? Why?"

I looked over at Penelope and noticed that she looked confused; which was better than blindly frolicking from game to game like she had been doing earlier. I guess she hadn't had one of Hebe's drinks in a while, but I needed her to snap out of whatever trance that Hebe had cast on her much faster, "PJ, this is the Goddess of Youth. She's trying to keep us all here so that we miss the Summer Solstice deadline and the Gods begin a civil war."

I hoped that was a good enough of a summary...

I watched as Penelope's eyes got as wide as saucers and I saw her irises dilate twice before returning back to normal. For once I was relieved by PJ's quick temper and lack of a filter, it seemed to speed up her understanding of our current situation, "What?!" She stared straight at Hebe, "Why the _heck_ would you want a civil war? All the stories I've read about you made you sound peaceful... even _sweet_."

The Goddess's eyes flickered, "And how many stories about me were readily available to you, little demigod?"

PJ glanced at me, "Um… well I only came across two or three…"

"Exactly," Hebe growled, "I am seen as a side act; a _supporting character_. But I am a powerful Goddess and I will force all of Olympus to see that."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Will shake his head a few times and the same look of confusion that Penelope had had passed over his face too. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Um… what's going on Alec?"

"Oh… just being held captive by a Goddess who wants to get back at Olympus for not treating her well. You know… same old _bad luck_ we keep coming across," I mumbled back to him.

Hebe snapped her fingers and three glasses materialized, floating in the air, right in front of us, "Now… my _dear_ half-bloods. You can either drink these of your own accord, or I will be forced to use _unpleasant_ techniques to force you to do so."

Three doormen appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of our cups. They were much bigger than our welcoming guy doorman; these three were huge and looked like former bodybuilders.

Penelope shoved her hand into her pocket, but I grabbed her arm before she could pull Riptide out, "No, we can't."

"What? Why not?!"

Will squinted at the three men who looked more like boulders than people, "Because they're human. Even if we wanted to hurt these guys, our weapons won't even touch them."

"Seriously?" PJ looked between Will and I like we were crazy, "What's the point of having a sword if I can't use it?"

"Any ideas, Will?" We were making sure to not speak very loudly, and Hebe seemed to be pretty distracted by Grover. He had begun spouting gibberish compliments about the Goddess and the hotel.

Will screwed up his face as if he was mentally doing a huge division problem, "I have a few trick arrows that could help, but how are we going to grab Grover?"

"Up for testing your powers again, PJ?" I mumbled as I looked at her through the corner of my eye.

An evil looking grin was pulling at the side of her mouth "I might be. Got any clever ideas for me?"

I carefully took the glass of lemonade and made it look like I was preparing to drink the liquid. Penelope and Will followed my lead, "Well, our friends here look a little parched. You could help them cool off… and all of our drinks are mostly water... NOW."

The three of us threw our drinks into the door men's faces. I saw PJ hold up her hands, curl up the ends of her fingers and begin to tremble as she concentrated on using our drinks as distractions. My original thought had been to use the liquid to freeze their eyelashes together or something, but it didn't look like Penelope was able to control temperature like that. She was successfully holding the still rippling liquid over their eyes like some really strange looking sunglasses that blurred their vision.

The men tried unsuccessfully to wipe the drink from their eyes as Will and I sprinted around them.

"Hold you're breathe," Will warned as he pulled the string of his bow back and aimed a green tinted arrow at the Goddesses feet.

The stink was so bad, I seeped into my airway even while I was holding my breathe. But the stink arrow did its job and drew enough attention from Grover so that we could quickly pull away the still babbling satyr.

"NO!" Hebe shrieked as we grabbed Grover's arms and yanked him from her grip, "Come back here this instant!"

The satyr struggled against us a little, but he was kind of woozy. Hebe must have slipped a mild sedative into the tea this time.

As we passed PJ, she released the door men's eyes and used the water to trip one of the big burly men over on the others; they went down like dominoes. She caught up to us by the 'pick a rubber duck' carnival game just as the intercom came on again.

"Attention, attention Lotus Hotel guests," Hebe made her voice sickeningly sweet, "anyone who catches one of the four children trying to exit from our lovely establishment, will immediately be upgraded to Platinum level cards and have access to a whole new floor of games!"

Hands started reaching out from every direction trying to grab an arm, or shirt or even a leg. I saw Penelope steel herself and act completely instinctively.

She used her power and pulled all the water from the rubber duck game and created a barrier between us and the desperate kids wanting Platinum level access. Even with Grover kicking at us all and mumbling about how we needed to let him go, PJ continued to keep the crazy mind warped mob away from us until we finally stepped outside.

The doors to the Lotus Hotel and Casino slammed shut behind us.

A second after we hit the dry Las Vegas air, Grover perked up and looked around like he was lost, "Where are we? What happened?"

I doubled over and braced my hands on my knees while I tried to catch my breath. Will held his side, and Penelope collapsed onto the ground.

"Nice work back there, PJ," Will huffed between shallow breaths.

"Thanks," Penelope moaned and sounded very much in pain, "I'm not entirely sure how I did a lot of that, but I'm glad _whatever_ it was worked. Gods… how long do you think we were in there?"

I looked around and cringed. I had already realized that time was a little _complicated_ inside the hotel, "How long did it feel like for you guys?"

Will, Grover and Penelope looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

"It felt like we barely got to spend any time in there at all," Grover said with a shrug.

Penelope and Will both thought maybe an hour or two at most. All the fun and games seemed to bleed together in their memories and tricked their internal clocks.

But even my theory that almost a whole day had dragged on since we first stepped foot into the hotel was nowhere near the truth.

I walked over to a local, self serve newspaper dispenser and read the date in the heading of the front page, "Oh my Gods…"

PJ, Will and Grover rushed over and read the date on the paper too.

… We had spent five days in the Lotus Hotel.

… There was only _one day_ left until the Summer Solstice.

* * *

 _And we keep chugging along..._

 _Thanks to dogbiscuit for the fart arrow idea. =)_

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 _*** Reviews make me smile...  
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 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	34. XXXIV Penelope

_Happy belated Valentine's. Hope you all had a great day, and for those of you who have today off; Happy Presidents day!_

 _Many thanks to all the Followers, Favoriters and Reviewers._ _pretselina, LiaRegie, dogbiscuit1967 and ro781727; you all rock as always. =)_

* * *

Penelope's POV

As I looked over Alec's shoulder, my body become completely numb.

… _we only had one day until the summer solstice?!_

The guys were pretty stunned as well. All three of them were silent and looked a bit like the statues that we saw at Aunt M's.

Alec recovered first. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me over to one of the on-duty taxi's idling right by the curb. He quickley ushered Will and Grover into the back seat before pushing me in next. We were small enough that all four of us fit perfectly in the back of the cab. Alec wore a determined expression as he talked to the driver, "Los Angeles, please."

"That's over three hundred miles, kid," the cabbie sucked loudly on a toothpick as he glared at our reflections in the rear-view mirror, "I doubt you made enough money at your little lemonade stand this summer to pay for a trip like that."

I saw Alec's face harden; he obviously didn't appreciate being called a little kid, even if it was a weird indirect way, "Do you want the fare or not?"

The driver chuckled as he held his hand out greedily, "Let me see the payment first, then we'll talk."

Alec pulled out his green Lotus Hotel cash card and shoved it into the man's hand.

"I don't usually take these," the cabbie flipped the card over in his fingers a few times before finally swiping the card in his meter.

The tiny machine started clanking and something inside of the unit began to make a whirling noise. The digital numbers next to the dollar sign began to tick upward at a really fast pace until the little meter suddenly fell silent and an infinity symbol glowed brightly next to the dollar symbol.

The toothpick that the driver had been chewing on dropped into his lap, "Whe… where in LA do you need to go? ...Your Majesty?"

I snorted at the royal title before I could stop myself; Alec offered a satisfied smirk back at me, "We need to get to the Santa Monica Pier… and step on it. If you get us there quickly you can keep the change."

Alec probably shouldn't have offered that to the driver, because he drove ninety-five miles an hour almost the whole way.

* * *

While we were zipping past the Nevadan desert and California state line, I tried to tell everyone about the dream I had about the underworld. I described the dark cavern and the smoky tentacle head as well as the visitor that had shown up and spoken about a 'stolen' something. But the harder I thought about everything the less details I could actually remember.

I couldn't recall the shadowy guy's voice anymore, even though I was completely positive that I had heard it before. I couldn't remember what they had said about the stolen item, other than it was taken by the new guy in my dream. And I couldn't remember what they had said about me, even though I _know_ they talked about something I did…

It was _beyond_ frustrating.

Strangely enough, when I started telling the guys about the weird throne room with all the human bones everywhere; that vision I could remember perfectly. I even could tell you every feeling I had while my dream body was being turned into a piece of extra dry jerky.

Alec and Will agreed that the throne room was in the underworld. They said that it fit the description of Hades's decorating style perfectly. The two blondes debated back and forth what the God of the Dead was doing and what he might have planned, but the new information was kind of throwing us for a loop. We had been working under the idea that Hades already had the Master Bolt; but after Alec pointed out that during the little meet up with the Kindly Ones, they had accused me of stealing something too...

Which kind of made it sound like they didn't know where Zeus's lightning was either.

"Or some other huge godly artifact has gone missing as well. But I feel like we would have heard something if that was the case… I mean, it could make sense but what are the chances of something being stolen from the underworld the same time as the Master Bolt was taken? It's highly unlikely..." when Alec began to argue with himself, we all decided that it was time for a nap.

We did have some time on our hands and a somewhat safe driver.

* * *

Surprisingly, Alec fell asleep first. His elbow was propped up on the small nub of an armrest by the door. His head bobbed with every bump in the road, but he was completely out. Will was asleep almost as quickly, but that wasn't surprising since the kid could fall asleep practically anywhere.

Grover seemed to have some trouble resting though, and I wasn't having much luck either.

"Was there anything else in your dream that might help us?"

I shook my head after a quick second thought. I had told them everything I could recall from the cavern and the throne room, but I think Grover knew that I was leaving a huge chunk of information out of my little vision story. I wasn't sure if I wanted to share the conversation that I had had with my dad though.

It had been kind of private since there was a lot about my mom. And I honestly wasn't sure if Poseidon was supposed to be making _brain calls_ to his kid… he didn't need to deal with that issue along with the impending war that was currently threatening Mount Olympus.

"I can't… I just… I'm just worried about everything," I glanced at the sleeping forms of Alec and Will, making sure that the other boys were still in a heavy sleep, "I feel like we're preparing for a fight against some weird mystery God. And it's like… when I get close to fixing one part of the problem, something changes that turns things around and makes everything so much harder."

Grover gave me a sympathetic look and nodded his head, "That seems to be the usual way with quests. I mean… not that I've been on many, but... in general."

I chuckled quietly and sighed, "Yea, I get it. I'm a demigod, my life is considered successful if I'm still alive at the end of the day, right?"

The satyr smiled sadly and nodded his head.

"What if we're actually right about all this?" I wasn't sure that I really wanted to know the answer, but I felt like the question needed to be asked, "What if the God of the Dead doesn't have the bolt? What if this is just a wild goose chase?"

"Well, we won't know that unless we check it out first… So whether he has the Master Bolt or not doesn't really seem to matter. We're going to have to go to the Underworld," I watched as Grover's face grew paler right in front of me.

I wanted to avoid Hades's territory just as much as the next person, but there was a small part of me that uncomfortably clenched as I thought about my mother.

… I needed to check for myself… I needed to see her. Even though my dad confirmed it, I still needed to know for sure that Mom was trapped down there. I knew there was very little that I could do if she was, but I needed to see it for my own eyes.

"PJ?" Grover put his hand over mine and I squeezed it back automatically.

I figured he could feel the emotional hurricane that was going on inside me, but that didn't mean I had to own up to it, "I'm fine."

He gave me a look that clearly said that he didn't believe me, "If you tell me what's wrong, maybe I could help?"

"I know," I nodded my head and tried to will Grover to stop asking questions. He was my best friend, but I needed to figure out this thing with my mom by myself.

I guess he got some kind of vibe off of what I was saying in my own head, because the satyr bounced our joined hands a few times, "Ok, just know that you don't _have_ to be alone in this. We're all here you know."

I nodded my head and my eyes fluttered closed. I prayed to every God I could remember the name of that I wouldn't dream.

... I needed a rest.

* * *

The sun looked like it was just beginning to dip down, under the water, when the taxi dropped us off at Santa Monica Pier. The driver happily waved goodbye to us and actually wished us luck with whatever we were doing… I guess he heard some of our strange conversations.

The four of us walked down the beach, past the flashing lights of Pacific Park and the iconic Ferris wheel, until we were right at the edge of where the waves were gently crashing onto the sand.

I looked out over the gently rolling waters and began to think about how much my dad actually controlled. We were so far away from the beach at Montauk; _this was the Pacific_ , which was so much bigger then that small bay. And this wasn't even all... wasn't _two-thirds_ of the world covered in water?

I felt like a tiny little spec. I didn't feel important, courageous or even that powerful as I stood next to the largest ocean on Earth. My dad was supposedly the ruler of all the seas… he could probably control the tide without even blinking, sink a ship with just a hand wave, command any sea creature with only a few words…

How was I the daughter of someone that powerful?

It felt like I was suddenly carrying a huge anvil on my back. I was just one small person; how was I supposed to keep a bunch of Gods from war?!

I mean… I did have two other, more experienced, demigods and a pretty reliable satyr with me; but both sides of this crazy conspiracy seemed to believe that I was going to have a big impact on this quest.

" _... you are special, you're important."_

My mom's voice rang in my ears as I pulled off the backpack that Ares had given us. I kicked off my shoes, checked my pocket for Riptide and took a step into the approaching wave.

"PJ?" I turned and saw that Alec had walked up right beside me in the water. He nodded his head sharply, "Um… be careful... Not just with monsters, I mean... the water here is really polluted so there might be some toxic stuff you have to deal with too. Just make sure you're cautious…"

"Thanks, Alec," I smiled as best I could before turning back to the sea and continuing my walk out into deeper water.

* * *

With every step I felt a little calmer; maybe even a little stronger. I mean, I know I somehow drew power from water… what with using it to heal myself and sometimes being able to control it when I needed an extra weapon. The feeling just isn't something you get used to that quickly.

...Something that I had even more trouble getting used to was the whole breathing underwater thing.

As soon as my head went under, I held my breathe.

I know, I know… stupid move. But would you willingly take a gulp of supposedly toxic seawater if you'd spent the last twelve years of your life _not_ being able to breathe underwater?

After I had exhausted my small gulp of air, I shakily took a breath.

My lungs expanded easily and I noticed that the thin layer of air bubble was back in place again, all around my body. I smirked a little to myself, "Thanks, Dad. Pretty cool power, actually."

I continued to walk along the ocean floor and I began to notice a really a strange sensation. I could _feel_ every contour of the ground around me; I knew exactly where the sandbar ended and the drop off into the deeper part of the ocean began. I also knew that there was a little colony of sand-dollars just to my right. I could even see the warm and cold currents swirling around me.

I looked down just as something brushed up against my leg, and I almost screamed my head off. I five foot mako shark was nuzzling against my leg like a puppy asking for attention. He leaned up and bumped his nose against my hand; I guessed he wanted a pat, so I laid a trembling hand on his head. He slid forward until my hand was next to his dorsal fin and he bucked forward. The shark stopped a foot in front of me and glanced back, ' _You coming?'_

"Huh?" my eyes went wide.

Ok, I changed my mind. Water powers and breathing underwater is one thing; being able to talk to animals is something I might _never_ get used to.

' _Grab hold. She's waiting for you.'_

Despite the fact that I still couldn't believe that I was talking to a shark, I felt like I could trust him. I made sure I had a good grip on his dorsal fin before I invited him to take off again.

He was _insanely_ fast.

Within just a few seconds, we were at the edge of the sand bank. It was a bit darker now that we were so deep down, but it was amazing. I looked out over the drop off and felt like I was surveying the Grand Canyon at midnight; but here, you couldn't see the bottom; there was no moonlight to help you a hundred and fifty feet below the surface. Half of me was absolutely terrified, but the other half was completely speechless at how beautiful everything was.

' _Penelope Jackson.'_

I leaned over the edge, suddenly wondering if there was a limit to my not dying underwater power, and saw a shimmering light rising from the depths. The voice had sounded so much like my mom's, but I knew better then to get my hopes up.

The water woman that Alec and I had seen in the Mississippi river came towards me. She seemed a little more whole here, not as ghost like as before. Her hair was clearly black and floated gently around her head like a halo. She rode a beautiful rainbow colored horse that looked like it was made of glass and wore a green silk dress that matched her sea green eyes perfectly.

Her eyes are what distracted me.

Now that I saw them up close, I knew they weren't my mother's. But they were unbelievably beautiful.

' _You have come a very long way, Penelope Jackson. Well done.'_

"Thank you," I curtsied to her; I didn't know what else to do.

' _I am a Nereid, a spirit of the sea. I serve in Lord Poseidon's court.'_ She paused and smiled kindly at me, ' _It has been many years since a child of the Sea God has been born. We have watched you with great interest.'_

A memory of myself at six years old flashed to the front of my brain. I was playing in the waves, trying to jump over the rolls of water, when I had noticed reflections of beautiful smiling women staring up at me from the water. I had looked up to see if the ladies were standing over me on the beach, but no one was there. And when I had looked back into the waves, the happy looking women had already disappeared.

"Thank you for your interest, but why isn't my father here?" I tried not to sound upset, but there was a slight edge in my words.

I saw a cold current rise out of the deep nothingness.

' _Do not judge the Lord of the Sea too harshly. He stands at the brink of an unwanted war which occupies most of his time. And you know as well as I, that he is forbidden to help you directly. No matter how much he would like to.'_

But my dad had spoken to me in through my dreams twice now, wasn't that kind of direct influence? I knew it wasn't a good idea to voice this question out loud, but it was something that I did really want the answer to… someday, "But he wishes he could help?"

The Nereid nodded her head, ' _That is why I have been sent; indirect assistance. I come to you bearing gifts and a warning.'_

She held out her empty hand to me. Four perfectly round, highly polished, white pearls appeared in her palm.

' _I know where you must journey to. Few mortals have ever entered Hades's realm and survived. I know of only three: Orpheus, who produced great music; Hercules, who had great strength; and Houdini, who could escape even the depths of Tartarus. Do you possess these talents?'_

"No, ma'am," and thanks for making me feel more confident before my horrible, possibly suicidal, trip.

' _But you do have something else, my dear Penelope. Your gifts... you have only just begun to know their power. The oracles have foretold a great and terrible future for you, should you survive to womanhood. And Poseidon does not wish to see you perish before your time. Take these,'_ she placed the pearls into my own hand, ' _when you are in great need, smash a pearl at your feet.'_

"What do they do?"

' _That depends on the need. But remember: what belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.'_

I looked at her blankly as I tried to figure out what that meant, "Is that the warning?"

' _No sweet child,'_ the sea spirit's eyes suddenly flickered, ' _You must follow your heart, or you will lose all. The God of the Dead feeds on doubt and hopelessness. He will attempt to trick you; make you mistrust your own judgment. He will not willing let you leave once you have set foot in his domain. But keep faith. And good luck, Penelope Jackson.'_

She somehow whistled for her colorful, crystal like horse and rode out over the dark void.

"Wait! In the river, you said not to trust the gifts; what gifts?" I called out, hoping she could still hear me even though she was growing dimmer as she rode away.

 _'Goodbye, young hero. Remember; you must always listen to your heart,'_ the Nereid was barely a spec and her voice was fading too.

And then she was gone.

I was so angry.

I stared at the spot where her green glow had vanished; I wanted to follow her. I wanted to go to my father's court, I wanted to see him… I wanted a lot of things that I just _couldn't_ have.

I looked up and saw the last bits of sun reflecting off of the water far above me. My friends were waiting up there, willingly beside me as I journeyed into the underworld. I bent down and used as much force as I could muster to kick off from the ocean floor.

I had to hurry, we had so little time left.

* * *

 _Underworld next... Eeekkkkk! Can't wait to show you all._

 _But first, what did you all think of the taxi ride? I wanted to have PJ and Grover have moment, maybe build on their friendship a bit._

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _*** Reviews are the best...  
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 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	35. XXXV William

_Hey there!_

 _Thanks to all the Followers and Favoriters for last chapter. I appreciate you all much more than I can even say. And Reviewers,_ _LiaRegie, Dogbiscuit1967, Guest, and DooomieTurtle; thank you for spending an extra moment and sharing some words, whatever they may be._

* * *

 **William's POV**

Now I've lived in within the New York state lines for the entire ten years of my life.

My mom is from New York City and even though she's traveled to dozens of other countries, she always says that New York is her favorite place in the world.

I'm almost positive that her opinions have influenced me some, and sure… it might be that I haven't really traveled much; what with the whole demigod, monsters like to hunt me thing. But I really did try to keep an open mind to all the places we've ended up visiting during the quest.

St. Louis was nice; at least until I thought Penelope and Alexander had been blown up. I had liked Denver until Ares had us run a stupid errand for him. And even Las Vegas wasn't too bad, though I really don't remember much of that stop.

… But Los Angeles _sucked_.

I always thought I would like LA. It was supposed to be the City of Angels or something, right? I mean they have the sixth best medical school in the nation here... But _no_. This was absolutely the worse stop in our journey so far… I was beginning to understand why the entrance of the Underworld was here.

So far we had been given a bunch of pearls which I was positive were going to have a heavy price tag when we used them. We had been bullied by a bunch of preppy wanna-bes with, pink shirts, popped collars and boat shoes. The street system made no sense at all, everything was so far away from each other... Oh! And Grover, Alec and I had almost been made into real life versions of Mr. Fantastic by some crazy mattress god with an obsessive compulsive disorder!

Sorry… not a happy camper here.

But thankfully PJ had taken care of Procrustes before any of us had suffered permanent damage; though my legs still felt a little wobbly and my hip popped every once in awhile. I had done a quick check over Grover and Alec before we left the waterbed store and they both looked fine except for some soreness.

I was actually a little more worried about Penelope at the moment.

Back at camp, she had been a little hesitant about the idea of killing things even if they were monsters. She hadn't been thrilled by the idea of being kind of famous at camp because she had killed the Minotaur. Though that had been a bit about revenge for her mother, so I think that was why she was able to deal with it. The hell hound had been pure self defense. Grover had mentioned that killing their math teacher had shaken Penelope up some. The three Kindly Ones had been a group effort. PJ hadn't looked too sorry about killing Medusa, but Auntie M _had_ been pretty excited about making us all part of her collection. But we hadn't been forced to kill anyone since we got on the train, so maybe PJ had been hoping for smooth sailing from there.

Are demigods _ever_ that lucky?

What had worried me was the sudden shift that I had seen in Penelope. When Grover, Alexander and I had been strapped down and Procrustes had begun his painful sizing process, I saw something in PJ snap. She suddenly became all business. Penelope had used the same strategy as Theseus and tricked the mattress king into testing out one of his own products. She then trapped him on the bed with his own finger snap summons of rope and had sliced him with Riptide without even a second thought.

As a fellow demigod, I was impressed.

But as a friend, I was a little concerned.

Unfortunately, we all needed to be at the top of our demigod game right now so there was no time to question changing morals.

* * *

"What if this idea doesn't work?"

I elbowed Alexander in the ribs as we walked one block over to the DOA Recording Studios.

Alec shrugged, "What? We need a backup plan."

Penelope had stopped right in front of the storefront and was staring at the black marble sign that hung over the door. She looked determined; not scared at all. PJ unzipped a small pocket on the backpack she still had and pulled out the four milky white pearls that she had gotten from her dad's messenger, " _These_ are our backup plan. If the God of the Underworld won't let us leave we will use these and hope that we don't end up stranded in the middle of the ocean." PJ held out one pearl to each of us and we stowed them away safely until they were needed… and I had a bad feeling that we were going to need them sooner rather than later.

My eyes took a minute to adjust to the bright lights inside the store; it was a blinding difference from the dull street lamps that lined the dark street outside.

A proper looking guy, with perfect brown skin and bleach blonde hair greeted us. He wore a really fancy suite and sounded like English was not his first language, "Can I help you little dead ones?"

I piped up first, "We want to go to the Underworld."

"Oh really?" the man, I think his name was Charon, had some trouble hiding his smirk, "Well, that's refreshing to hear."

"Why is that?" Alec asked.

Charon gestured to the other people… _spirits_?... seated around the room, "No screaming, no ' _this has to be a mistake!_ ' I appreciate your honesty and frankness." He grabbed an expensive looking fountain pens from his pocket and looked over a clipboard full of paper, "How did each of you die?"

Penelope bumped her shoulder into Grover to cue him, "Oh… Um… we drowned, in a bathtub."

"All four of you?" One of Charon's eyebrow raised.

We all nodded.

"... big bathtub." Charon muttered as he began to scribble away on one of the pages. "Now for the issue of payment. Normally for teenagers and adults I could charge a credit card or add the ferry ticket price to your last cable bill. But with younger children…" he sighed deeply and began to tuck his paper and pen away, "... children never seem to die prepared. I suppose you will have to take a seat for a century or two."

Penelope quickly took out four drachmas and placed them on the counter, just out of Charon's reach, "But we do have payment."

Charon looked chocked, but doubt quickly overtook his expression again, "These are _real_ golden drachmas…"

"Oh yea," Alec quickly chimed in, "Adventure Scouts, just as prepared as Boy Scouts but we're not afraid of girls." He gave a nervous laugh as we all tried to look like convincing Adventurers.

He didn't look convinced. Charon eyed the coins and narrowed his gaze as he took a quick sniff of Penelope and looked her over. "You all should leave while you can, little godlings," Charon made a growling sound as he dismissed us with a wave, "I'll just take these and pretend that I never saw you lot."

Penelope placed a hand over the gold coins, "No service, no tip. We have to get to the Underworld." I saw PJ swallow with some difficulty, but her voice didn't shake at all. She pulled the little coin-purse that we had found at Crusty's store and weighed it in her hand, "It's a shame too, we had much more to offer you for your help."

Charon looked offended at first, "Do you think I can be bought, godling?" But his curiosity got the better of him, "How much do you have there, anyway?"

"Probably more than the God of the Dead pays you… enough for a few more of those suits at least," Penelope was really laying it on thick. And I was completely shocked… but it was working, "You deserve much better than babysitting spirits who just complain all day! You deserve a little appreciation... some respect, good pay…"

With each word PJ placed a gold coin right in front of Charon. His eyes started to light up with each added drachma.

"Well…" Charon smoothly pocketed the money and ushered us over to the elevator, "The boat is almost full anyway. I might as well add you four and be off."

As we pushed through the crowd of spirits, they began to grab at our clothes. They were whispering things light, 'I shouldn't be here' and 'take me with you to Elysium.' It was kind of creepy to say the least.

Charon made sure to not allow any freeloaders onto the elevators before he let the doors slide shut and inserted a strange wrought iron key into the control panel.

My stomach dropped as the elevator descended.

"What happens to the spirits who are still up in the lobby?" Alec asked.

"Nothing," Charon said in a flat voice.

"For how long?" I'm not sure why I asked; I wish I hadn't after I got the answer.

"Forever. Or at least until I am feeling generous."

I didn't hear much of the conversation after that because the elevator's path had shifted and it was now rushing forward at a very scary pace. I looked over at Charon and did a double take as I watched his fancy dark suit shimmer away. He was now dressed in a long black robe. I glanced around and noticed that all the spirits were also dressed in similar robes but grey and dingy looking.

And, oh look...

… that's why I felt so seasick, the elevator had very conveniently turned into a boat.

I'm not sure why I was surprised. I knew all the stories about death and the underworld. I should have remembered that Charon was the ferryman and the only way into Hades domain was by crossing The River Styx.

I tried to find a horizon to look at to calm my churning stomach, but I couldn't find one. I did however find some plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas and a ton of other things that kind of made me feel depressed on top of nauseated. And unfortunately, poor Grover looked even greener than I felt.

The satyr stepped a little closer to me and we shared a look of complete misery, but I actually felt a bit better knowing that someone else was there with me feeling exactly as I was.

We both looked over at Penelope and Alexander just as we passed through a particularly thick patch of toxic looking mist. I saw PJ reach for Alec's hand. I couldn't help smirking at Grover a little as I noticed Alec hold tight to the girl's smaller fingers.

If we… _when_ we make it out of here, I will definitely be asking about that…

By the grace of all the Gods, the shore line suddenly came into view and neither Grover or I threw up before the boat finally moored itself on the black sand.

"I'd wish you all luck, but there isn't an ounce of the stuff down here," Charon might have smiled at this, but I wasn't sure. His mouth had kind of disappeared and his eyes were now hollow sockets that were a huge distraction for me, "Maybe you could ask about a pay raise for me, since I helped you out and all."

We all turned toward a horrible howling sound.

"Ah, watch out for Three-Face. He's probably hungry. And he seems to like the taste of demigods..."

That time I was _positive_ the horrible ferryman grinned.

The four of us took turns jumping down from the boat and followed the spirits up the well-worn path through the dark gates.

* * *

What we found behind the black gates was… a little strange.

I know that the Gods sometimes take it upon themselves to upgrade and modernize, but this was a bit ridiculous and a very weird sight to see.

The Underworld looked like a cross between airport security line at customs and bumper to bumper traffic on the highway during rush hour.

There were three separate entrances, each with it's own tollbooth. Every entrance was for a specific judgment level. The one marked 'EZ Death' was moving at a steady walking pace, but the other two lines were almost standing still.

"The fast line must go to the Asphodel Fields, no judges needed to get into there," Alexander explained to Penelope, "the other lines must be waiting for the court."

"There's a court system for the dead?" PJ asked not actually looking very surprised.

Alec nodded, "Of course. They have three judges that they switch around. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson and Shakespeare."

We walked over to the gates, still not knowing where we should go or how we were going to convince anyone to let us through. But the closer we got to the gates, the louder the growling got.

Now, I'm sure you've all read something about the three headed dog; but just in case… His name is Cerberus. He has one body, three heads, very sharp and real teeth to go with his semi-spirit like body… Oh and he's about thirty feet tall.

The spirits walked under the giant Rottweiler's feet with no fear at all; actually he didn't even seem to notice the transparent people passing around him.

Then something unsettling happened; Cerberus sniffed around himself and rounded on the four of us faster than we could blink. The middle head was especially attentive toward us and barked to get his other two heads attention. All three of them snarled as we tried to creep closer.

"Can you understand him?" I glanced over at Grover who walked closely next to me.

The satyr nodded, "Oh yea… let's just say he's not too happy to see us."

"Do you think there's anything we can do to change his mind?"

Grover shook his head hopelessly, but Penelope looked like she had one of her crazy plans brewing. She opened up the Ares backpack and took out a broken section from the bed that I had been strapped to, "Hey Big Fella!" She spoke in a cutesy baby voice as she waved the giant stick in front of her, "I bet you don't get to play much down here."

PJ seemed to have all six of the dog's eyes following her. She playfully taunted the dog and then threw the stick as far as she could into the gloom. It was a decent throw, but _horrible_ aim. Cerberus was not too thrilled that his play stick was now in that disgusting River Styx.

The dog was about to gobble Penelope up when Alec and I jumped in front of her.

Alexander and I have known each other long enough to have a workable shorthand in stressful situations like this, "Distraction?"

I grabbed a firework arrow from my quiver. It might attract a lot of attention, but right now we only needed to worry about not becoming Milkbones, "Got it." I lined up the shot right behind the dog, "Sorry buddy."

The small colorful explosion distracted Cerberus. His ears slicked back, two of his heads bend down and his tail even dipped between his legs. I felt terrible, "Need a better plan."

"Working on it," Alec smiled broadly as he pulled a little red rubber ball from his bag.

"That's _crazy_."

Alexander didn't answer, but I did see him look at PJ over his shoulder before he started talking to the giant dog, "Hey Cerberus! See the ball? You want the ball? You gotta sit!"

Penelope, Grover and I stared in completely shocked awe as Alec shook the ball over his head as possible. He threw it up as high as he could, and the middle head caught it. The ball was barely big enough for him to catch a tooth on it, but the other two heads started snapping playfully to try to get a turn with the new toy.

"Be a good boy, Cerberus! Now, drop!"

The huge thing actually whimpered and dropped the ball at Alec's feet.

"Good boy!"

Alexander was still facing the dog and bouncing the ball to keep his attention, when he started muttering to me out of the side of his mouth, "Take PJ and Grover. 'EZ Death' line, go."

I didn't like the plan, but I knew not to question Alec.

I took Grover and Penelope's elbows and slowly moved away from the dog's line of sight. We creeped under Cerberus and walked between his legs as quietly as we could.

"Good dog!" Alec called out again when we were safely behind the dog, "Ready, boy?"

Alexander waved the ball again and threw it up even higher into the air than before. This time the left head caught the slowly deflating rubber ball, and the middle and right side went in to try to play with it as well.

While all three heads were distracted, Alec speed-walked under the dog. But Cerberus noticed that his new friend was gone almost immediately. The huge thing turned around and stared at Alexander; he was waiting for the red ball to be thrown again even though it was a deflated red puddle next to his right paw now.

It was sad to think that this poor creature was trapped down here with probably no one to play with for centuries. I started to wish that we could do something for him, but we just didn't have to time or resources right now.

"Sorry, Bud. I'll come visit you soon though… and I'll bring a new ball," Alec tried unsuccessfully to reason with the three pitiful faces. He turned to us and sadly said, "let's go."

I took a quick breath before we sprinted through the metal detectors. Sirens and red flashing lights went off which caused Cerberus to start barking again. Somewhere a speaker was blaring too, " _Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!_"

We all ran for the Asphodel Fields. I waved everyone over to a big dead tree at the edge of the wheat and gave a leg up as we squeezed into the small, dark space to hide.

Grover moaned as we settled and waited for the coast to be clear, "Well, PJ… now, what did we learn today?"

Penelope smirked and shrugged her shoulders, "Three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls instead of sticks?"

"No," the satyr glared a little, "We've learned that your plans really, _really_ bite."

I chuckled and added, "And apparently your craziness is contagious." I nodded my head in Alexander's direction and he snorted at my comment.

Alec was trying to smirk at the teasing conversation, but I saw him frown and look in the direction of the horrible sound when we heard Cerberus whimper and cry at the lose of his new friend.

* * *

 _Guest - sorry you're having issues with the site. I promise all the chapters are there!_

 _LiaRegie - Glad you liked it! No worries, you're never really late._

 _Guest - Sorry that you dislike genderbent stories. There are plenty of other fics to read though so there's no need to spread your negativity on my story._

 _DoomieTurtle - Thank you for the input. I do a lot of research as well, but I also enjoy taking a few liberties with things since this is a fanfiction and I'm exercising my creativity._

 _Dogbiscuit - if they took the card back, it would be too easy... have to have certain obstacles in place I guess. lol. And thank you again!_

 _Please Follow, Favorite and REVIEW!  
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 _Constructive_ _criticism and ideas are welcomed with open arms._

 _*** Reviews are wonderful...  
_

 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


	36. XXXVI Grover

_Hello all. Hope you had a nice weekend!_

 _Thanks to the Followers and Favoriters from last chapter._ _MoonLightShadowNight123 and Dogbiscuit1967; thank you for taking the extra time to leave a comment. And don't worry, I will be seeing this story to the end. =)_

* * *

 **Grover's POV**

The dead aren't scary. They are just... _sad_.

I shared a look with Penelope and I was almost positive that she had the same thought that I did. She looked depressed, which was a startling difference from her determined expression that she had had before while taking on that OCD waterbed salesman and the snotty ferryman.

We walked through the Fields of Asphodel silently. I glanced at the pavilion that housed the lines for the Fields of Punishment and Elysium. It was difficult to watch the different forms of torture that the Underworld used on their damned guests. There were hell hounds, barbed wire and lots of flames there… I thought I even heard some ' _Queen of Night'_ by Mozart… it was extremely off key and the singer was half a beat behind the piano...

… Yea, I know a bit about music. But at least I know enough to stick with more simple tunes for myself. This lady… _oh man_. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the spirits were suffering from bleeding ears.

And looking at Elysium didn't exactly make me feel better either.

It was so _small_ … there were so few spirits there.

"That's what it's all about, isn't it," Alexander mumbled as he, PJ and Will gazed at the lush little paradise in the middle of the Underworld, "The place of heroes."

I swallowed with some difficulty, I was still trembling a little. I may not be the bravest of Keepers, but I will always try my very best to hide that fact, "Come… come on guys. We have to keep moving."

We began walking deeper into the Fields of Asphodel. A chill went up my spin and I began to shiver.; I'm pretty sure the others could tell, but they were nice enough not to comment. It suddenly got darker, like the light was just sucked out of the air around us. The colors of our clothes faded and the thick crowd of chattering spirits began to thin out.

But we had to keep moving forward even though we weren't entirely sure which direction we were going.

After a few miles of walking in the dull darkness, I could just make out a glittering black building on the edge of the horizon. It looked beautiful to tell the truth, but my stomach clenched since I knew what the pretty building was… and even worse, it looked like the three Kindly Ones were guarding Hades's palace. They let out ear slitting screeches as they flew in circles over the building.

I tried to chuckle, "Too late to turn back now, huh?"

"We'll be okay. Just stick together and make sure you have your pearl with you," PJ's smile didn't reach her eyes, but I appreciated her attempt.

I tripped as we started walking again, "...geez…" I adjusted the shoes and made sure that they were tight so they would stay on. Ever since one of them popped off on the train, I'd been totally paranoid about people seeing my hooves… though I'm pretty sure spirits wouldn't really be interested in what kind of feet I have.

Alec leaned down and offered a hand, "Come on, goat boy."

I reached up, and just as I was about to grab Alexander's hand… the wings on my shoes sprouted and bumped me backwards about two feet.

"Um… ok. I guess I can get up myself," I chuckled a little and rocked myself forward so that I could stand up again.

I landed flat on my back in the grass.

"Grover?" Alec gave me a look like he was trying to figure out if I was being funny or losing my mind, "Come on, we have a lot of stuff to do and not a lot of time left."

"I know that," I tried to get up again, but this time the sneakers decided to take matters into their own hands… soles?

" _Maia_!" I yelled as the winged shoes threw me up into the air and spun me around so that I got dizzy. I lost track of which way was up and which was down, " _Maia_ , already! Call the cops; call the fire department. Goat boy stuck in the air! Help!"

I felt someone grab my hand and another person grab the bag on my back. But neither person were able to keep a grip on me and my wildly thrashing body.

"Untie them, Grover. Get those stupid things off!"

I think it was Alexander who screamed at me, but I really couldn't tell with my head being knocked around as I spun.

I tried to pull myself so that I was kind of sitting up, but then the shoes dove down and shot straight up again like they were doing stunts for the Blue Angels or something. I got lightheaded and held my head tightly in an attempt to stop my brain from rattling around.

I could hear Will, Alec and PJ yelling things to me, but I really couldn't make anything out.

The shoes tested out another evasive aerial dive when I got dangerously close to one of the laces. I thought I saw some shiny black gates, they forced me to take a very sharp turn though, and the gate disappeared from view.

"Grover, hold on to something!"

It had gotten darker, if that was even possible. There were damp looking walls closing in around me and there was no more black grass or weird looking trees anymore. And there was nothing to hold on to…

I tried scraping at the ground, but found my fingers sliding through sharp bits of black gravel, "Hold onto _what_?!"

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and goose pimples covered my arms as I reached for the sting holding me into the crazy self-flying shoes.

"Can't you shoot him with something?"

"You want me to _shoot_ Grover?"

"Well, don't you have like a grappling hook or something?"

"I'm a demigod; not Batman."

"He's moving too erratically anyway."

"Yea, there's no clean shot."

"We can't just watch him go over the edge into the chasm!"

 _Chasm?!_

I looked ahead of me and caught a quick view of a creepy, jagged edge, black-hole looking thing that the shoes appeared to be dragging me directly to. I yelped and tried making my arm longer to reach my hooves. It was probably the weirdest looking thing… a kid, being dragged through the air by winged sneakers, flopping around as he tried desperately to get the shoes _off_.

I came face to face with the graveled ground again and clawed helplessly trying to find something solid to hold on to.

A hopeless feeling was beginning to creep through my body.

I needed to get out of these damned shoes… or I was going over the edge into the deep, dark, black abyss.

Instead of reaching down for the shoes, I tried pulling up on my legs and trying to tuck my knees against my chest. I guess I confused the shoes a little because one of them got caught on my pants and stopped pulling just long enough for me to push the left sneaker off of my foot.

My fingers then miraculously found some huge rock that I could finally anchor to. I quickly used my freed hoof to kick off the other possessed flying shoe and watched with relief as it shot off without me.

I collapsed onto my back, which is pretty difficult and uncomfortable while on a boulder, and took a few deep breaths before sitting up again.

Will found me first and splashed water on my palms to clean out any remaining gravel and then slathered on a layer of some healing stuff that smelled like honey and Camp.

… man I missed Camp…

Penelope and Alexander slumped onto the ground beside us as Will worked.

"I'm… I don't know how… I swear I didn't…" my breathe apparently couldn't be caught.

PJ's look of concern turned a little scared. Her eyes got very wide, "Shhh, wait… listen."

There was a whisper.

I tried to concentration on the sound, but I couldn't make any words out, just mumbling noise.

"PJ… this is the place from your dream, isn't it?" Alec sounded pretty certain even though it he had asked it as a question.

Penelope stood up, "Shh."

Will met my eyes as he finished treating my hands, "What's that noise?"

The muttering was getting louder, but not any clearer. They still sounded very far away, but now there were more of them and the volume of the mumbling just kept growing.

"It's…" Alexander looked like all the blood had drained from his face. I had never seen him that scared; even when he was younger, "Tartarus… it's the entrance to Tartarus."

Penelope uncapped Anaklusmos.

The eerie bronze glow from her sword threw strange shadows everywhere.

When I glanced at PJ's face, she reminded me a little of her mother; she looked determined even though she was clearly scared.

The voices faltered.

It actually sounded like they gasped or took a step back when Riptide was revealed, but now the weird muffled chanting was back. And now it was louder and seemed to have rounded up a few more participants.

I was just starting to make out words that they were saying when Penelope and Alexander freaked out simultaneously.

"It's… it's magic," PJ whispered urgently.

"We have to get out of here, _now_ ," Alec said harshly.

Will and Penelope helped me up while Alexander grabbed my bag.

We ran for it.

My legs still felt like jello, but I forced myself to put on hoof in front of the other as quickly as I could. Will was ahead of me, helping me along. But Penelope seemed to be having some trouble keeping up, like something was weighing her down, "Come on, PJ. You heard brainiac, we have to move."

She huffed, "Yea, yea; I know. Feels like someone put bricks in my backpack though…"

The voices began to call out and even screamed as we reached the end of the tunnel.

Penelope just stepped out of the tunnel when a huge blast of cold air began to pull at our backs. It felt like the pic was taking a big, forceful gulp of air and trying to suck us all into its depths in the process. PJ fell to her knees beside me, and my knees buckled as I tried to not take a step backwards. If we had still been inside next to the void, we would have been inhaled right into Tartarus.

Alec fell back and grabbed Penelope's arm. He and Will dragged us further away from the air until we could clearly see the Fields of Asphodel.

The wind suddenly died.

I swear I heard some screams of outrage and unhappy cursing coming from the tunnel; the voices were growing far away again. But I was still pretty sure that someone… or _something_ was not happy that we had gotten away.

"What was that?" I asked as i gulped in as much air as I could. The four of us had collapsed into heaps on the grass as soon as the sucking wind had stopped. I looked around the field and thought about what could have possibly been trying to meet us, "Do you think it was another one of Hades's pets?"

Alexander and Penelope shared a weird look. Alec looked like he wanted to say something but instead he just shook his head. But the terrified look on his face made my stomach flip over.

Will clapped me on the shoulder, "How's your hands?"

I nodded slowly, still trying to figure out what Alec thought was down in the cavern, "A lot better, thanks."

PJ capped her sword and stashed it back in her pocket, "We need to keep moving." She looked at me and frowned, "Can you walk?"

"Yea," I swallowed with some difficulty and took her and Will's offered hands and pulled myself up, "Yea, sure… I never really liked those sneakers anyway. Never fit right."

I tried to sound casual about it… maybe even a little brave. But I felt my hands trembling as I let go of Will and Penelope's hands. Unfortunately it wasn't just me who was absolutely terrified; Alec, Will and PJ were all shaking too.

I was a little proud of myself though. My silly comment, did get a tiny side smile from Penelope before she turned and started to lead us over to the shiny black gates again.

A shiver went down my spine as I turned my back on the tunnel and followed PJ. The feeling continued over my skin and made the warning bells in my brain go off at threat level red… I realized that I was actually more scared of the unknown thing in the tunnel then the fact that we were about to meet the God of the Dead.

Whatever was down in the dark void was dangerous… powerful… for some reason I knew it was some ancient thing.

There was a small flicker of relief in my chest as we walked away from the tunnel. I was almost thankful to be walking toward the palace of Hades…

… well, ok… not really thankful. But it was definitely going to be better than whatever was down in that tunnel…

... _Right_?

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	37. XXXVII Alexander

_Hey there! So yea... so, so sorry... read after the chapter for more apologies..._

 _Thank you for all the Followers, Favoriters and Reviewers for last chapter._ _WiseGirl9859, LiaRegie, Doink, weallfindlove, dogbiscuit1967, prince of the seas, and slytherin Buttercat; I really do appreciate you all. =)_

* * *

 **Alexander's POV**

We walked slowly up to the gate of the black palace. My breath caught a little in my throat as I saw the engravings on the gate. They were ancient looking and bits of the etchings had worn off, but most of the scenes depicted were of modern day tragedies. There was a small picture of the atomic bomb detonating over Hiroshima, another with a line of starving children that looked remarkably like a picture I had seen in National Geographics when they reported on one of the famines in Africa, and there was one that had a line of gas mask clad soldiers that were wearing British World War 1 uniforms.

I didn't want to think of the possibility that these were prophecies come true, but the idea did quietly voice itself in my head.

As we entered the courtyard, the strong scent of pomegranates filled my nose. The sweet tart smell was so tempting, I caught myself lifting a hand to reach for one. But I knew better. The colorful plants and jewels that covered Persephone's garden were _supposed_ to tempt people. The only way to trap the living in the Realm of the Dead was to have them eat food of the underworld, and that was something that none of us needed to deal with.

I saw Penelope glance over the piles of rubies and clumps of raw diamonds, but it seemed like she was most interested in the strange luminous fruit.

They did look ripe…

"The garden of Persephone," I said as I gently pushed PJ forward, "We need to keep walking."

Penelope's head snapped up. She met my eyes and nodded, "Okay."

She pulled Grover away from a particularly juicy looking pomegranate as Will lead the way up the front steps without a single step of hesitation. He had been the smart one and had covered his nose and mouth right before we walked into the garden... I should have thought of that myself.

Hades's palace was constructed completely out of black marble except for the gleaming bronze floors. The columns along the front of the building were over twenty yards high and had Corinthian order capitals at the very top where the pillars should have met the roof. I was actually disappointed by the fact that the roof wasn't there. The pillars were positioned to look like they were holding up the cavern roof instead. The scroll work was amazingly detailed, even in the dark material, and I had to mentally scold myself for stopping to stare.

But as we walked through the entrance hall I continued to notice the extreme detail of the building around me. I knew that I should have been scared, but I guess analysing every facet of the architecture around me was helping the fear stay at bay.

I did step back a little when I saw all the skeletons lining the long hallway though. They all wore some version of a military uniform, but each pair seemed to be from different time periods or battles. There were some in old Greek armor, dusty British redcoats, older styled American camouflage and even some modern day marine uniforms. They all held some kind of weapon in their white boned hands.

"I guess we should knock?" Penelope looked really concerned as she looked up at the Marine skeletons that guarded the tall black doors. She looked really uncomfortable and adjusted the straps of her backpack.

Just as she lifted her hand up to the bronze knocker, a hot wind swept down the corridor and flung open the doors.

The undead guards stepped aside to let us through.

"I guess that means, _eiságo_ ," but the Greek word didn't sound very inviting in my shaky voice.

The throne room was huge, to say the least.

Between the many doors along the walls, hung large paintings with different depictions of death and destruction. Torches flickered all around the room and the bronze floor threw dark and menacing shadows over everything. At the far end of the room was a raised platform covered in what appeared to be blood red velvet. The throne itself was large and looked to be made of fused bones, just like Penelope had described.

And there, sitting on the eery white seat, was Hades himself.

He radiated power.

He was draped in a rich black robe with his braided crown of gold on his head. Hades wasn't at his full stature, like I had seen him on Mount Olympus, but his ten foot hight still made my gut tighten. The Lord of the Underworld sat back casually on his throne, his long willowy stature still somehow looked graceful and commanding. And I watched with clinched teeth as his intense eyes followed our every step as we approached.

I could feel the aura that the God of the Dead was projecting toward us all. I felt intimidated even though he hadn't spoken yet. I had to remind myself that the mesmerizing but evil charisma, though I needed to acknowledge and respect it, was not something that I needed to take to heart.

I took a deep breath and steadied my racing heart.

"You are brave to come here, Daughter of Poseidon," his voice was slick and his eyes flickered as he glared at Penelope, "After everything that you've done to me… yes, you must be very brave indeed. Or of course, you might simply be the most foolish demigod yet."

I felt PJ's whole body stiffen beside me.

I glanced over and saw that Penelope was paper white and her jaw was locked as her eyes met the God of the Dead's.

Will and Grover stood on the other side of her; looking equally worried as they saw how pale and rigid she was. But something was fighting to reach the surface in the girl beside me.

PJ's stare didn't fall and her voice didn't waver as she quickly took a step toward the throne, "Lord… Uncle, I come to you with two requests."

Hades leaned forward on his seat as his eyebrow cocked with interest. His robe shifted slightly and I saw shadowy faces appear in the folds of the black fabric. The souls screamed out silently. My eyes fell to the bronze floor as I began to imagine what kind of horrible crimes people had to commit to be stitched into the very clothes of Hades.

The god's lips curled into an ugly smirk, "Only two requests? Arrogant girl… Have you not taken enough from me already?" He shook his head in disapproval but waved a harsh hand at PJ, "Come and speak then. I would take no pleasure in striking you dead _yet_."

Penelope gulped loudly as she nodded her head.

She looked over at Persephone's throne. It was beautiful in comparison to her husband's; it appeared to be more black marble, expertly carved into a blooming rose with gilded gold edges along the petals. When I glanced back at PJ, she was still staring at the empty seat beside Hades.

I cleared my throat and softly grasped Penelope's elbow.

PJ stood up a little straighter and faced the God of the Dead again, "Lord Hades… Sir…" She shook her head as she searched for the right words, "Look, sir, there cannot be a war between the gods. It would be… it would be a really bad idea."

" _Really_ bad," Grover echoed.

"If you return Zeus's master bolt to me, I will carry it back to Olympus," Penelope stated calmly, "Please sir, I can fix this."

Hades's eyes narrowed and even more darkness shadowed his face, "You… you dare keep up this pathetic charade… after _everything_ you have done?!"

Penelope took a small step back and glanced at Grover and Will before looking to me. Her eyes were wide with confusion. "But Uncle…" PJ slowly looked up at the angry God in front of us, "You keep saying 'after what you've done.' What… what is it that I've done?"

The entire throne room trembled.

The tremor was so strong that I was positive that it was felt by all of Los Angeles. Pieces of debris fell from the cavern ceiling as every single door burst open along the walls. Skeletal warriors from every time period flooded into the throne room and lined the perimeter of the room.

They blocked every possible exit.

"You think I _want_ war, godling?" Hades's commanding voice filled the air.

"You are the Lord of the Dead, sir," Penelope said each word with careful precision, but I could tell that she was beginning to doubt them as she spoke, "A war would expand your kingdom, wouldn't it?"

"Such a predictable statement... from my brothers, I'm sure," he raised both his arms up and gestured to the guards that surrounded us, "Do you really think I need more subjects?" Hades angrily pointed toward the doors we had entered through, "Did you not notice the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields as you trespassed into my realm? Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in the past millennia… the past century alone has forced me to open countless new subdivisions."

Penelope tried to say something, but Hades cut her off before she was even able to begin.

"More security ghouls than I've ever needed before, unmoving traffic at the judging pavilion… Double overtime for all the staff. I used to be a rich god, Penelope Jackson. I control every ounce of precious metal under this earth… but my expenses!"

"And Chiron wants a pay raise," PJ clamped her hands around her mouth too slowly. She looked mortified as the Lord of the Dead slammed his fist against the arm of his throne.

"Don't even get me started on Charon. He's been completely unreasonable since he discovered Italian suites. He is absolutely no help at all… So many problems, and I have to address them all myself. The commute time from the palace to the front gates alone drives me crazy!" Hades slumped back against his chair, "And the dead… they just keep arriving. A never ending stream of souls that need to be kept… So _no_ , child. I need no assistance in growing my kingdom. I did _not_ ask for this war."

Penelope shook her head slowly, "But… but you took Zeus's master bolt."

"Lies!" Hades screamed as another tremor rumbled the palace. He stood up and leared over us all as he spit his words at PJ, "Your father might fool Zeus, girl, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan."

"His plan?"

A sinister smile began to slowly cross the God of the Underworld's lips, "You were the thief on the winter solstice. Your father was so careful in keeping you his little secret, using you to impose his will. He directed you on how to reach Olympus… the path into the throne room. And there you stole the master bolt _and_ my helm. Had I not sent one of my Furies to Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have been successful in hiding you away and concealing the true origin of this impending war. But I forced you into the open; I will expose you as Poseidon's thief, and I will get my helm back!"

"But," my mind was racing at a mile a minute as I tried to process what Hades has said, "Sir, your helm of darkness is missing, too?"

The Lord of the Dead suddenly turned on me, "You _dare_ to play innocent with me? I know that you, the son of Apollo and this satyr have been helping this hero… I'm certain that you came into my realm to threaten me in Poseidon's name… to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon believe I can be blackmailed into supporting him?"

Penelope took a few hurried steps forward, "No! Poseidon didn't… I didn't… I would _never_."

"I have not bothered to inform anyone outside my kingdom of the helm's disappearance," Hades stood to his full height now, making all of us move back, "I have no illusions of the Gods of Olympus. No one there would ever offer me justice or the slightest amount of assistance. And I cannot afford for my enemies to discover that I am without my most powerful weapon of fear… So I searched for you myself. And when it became clear that you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did nothing to impede your travels."

A flash of the Kindly Ones, the mother of monsters and the Lotus hotel flipped through my mind, "... you _didn't_ try to stop us?"

But Hades paid me no attention, "Return my helm now, godling, or I will stop death itself. I will open the earth and allow the dead to pour back into your world. I will make the living world a nightmare. And you, Penelope Jackson… your skeleton will lead my army out of the Underworld."

We all took a collective stride backwards as the skeletal soldiers readied their weapons, except for PJ.

Penelope took another step forward; eyebrows furrowed, jaw set, anger flashing behind her eyes…

… _anger_?

I stumbled forward as I tried to pull PJ back before her temper voiced itself, but I was too late.

"You're as bad as Zeus!" Penelope screamed. You would think a person would be terrified after being threatened by the God of the Dead, but PJ was just fuming with anger, "You think I stole your helm of darkness? I didn't even know I was a demigod until a few weeks ago, how would I have stolen anything from Olympus when I didn't even know it existed?! Wait… that's why you sent the Kindly Ones after us? And the other monsters?"

Hades smiled broadly now, "I scheduled the visit with the Furies yes, but I had nothing to do with the others. You attracted them all on your own. I wanted no quick death for you, godling. I wanted you to stand before me, alive, so you might face the tortures in the Field of Punishment. Why else would I allow you to enter my realm so easily?"

" _Easily_?!" Penelope's fists clenched tightly and I could feel angry heat radiating off of her.

"Return what is mine!"

"I don't have your stupid helm. I only came here to get the master bolt," PJ was turning slightly red as her anger grew.

"Which you already possess!" Hades shouted, "I know you brought it with out to threaten me!

"But I didn't!"

Hades growled in frustration, "Open your pack then, little girl."

Penelope stopped.

She placed a hand on one of the straps of her bag and quickly pulled it off of her shoulders. PJ yanked at the zippers and opened the backpack.

She gasped.

As the fabric fell away, I could see a thick metal cylinder, about two feet long. It had intricate scrolled spikes at each end and it hummed as energy pulsed through it.

"PJ…" I was completely lost, "But how…"

She stared blankly at me, "I… I don't… I have no idea. I don't understand."

"Such fools… it is always the same with you heros. So careless because of your pride," Hades held his hand out to Penelope, "Now you will surrender the bolt. I did not ask for it, but I am sure it will make a useful bargaining tool. And also… my helm. Where have you hidden it?"

PJ looked torn between helplessness and anger.

I was about to question her reaction when I realized the reason on my own.

We had been _played_.

The Big Three had been set at each other's throats by someone else; but I was almost certain that it wasn't Zeus, Poseidon or Hades. And the backpack wasn't even Penelope's. It had been given to us by…

"Lord Hades, wait," I took a few steps until I was directly beside PJ, "There has been a misunderstanding."

"No. There is _no_ misunderstanding, godlings," Hades roared.

All the dead warriors aimed their weapons. The Furies swooped down and perched themselves on the back of Hades's throne of bones.

"I know the true reason you came here, Penelope Jackson. I know the real reason that you brought me the master bolt," The God of the Underworld's voice was low and dangerous now.

I saw Will slip his magical bow into his fingers and position it so that it stayed hidden, tucked between his forearm and torso. Grover was shaking uncontrollably, but his hands were balled tightly. I let my hand hover over the handle of my dagger. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but we weren't expecting that…

"I know you came here for _her_."

* * *

 ** _Insanely_** _ **sorry** for the huge gap in updating. I got the flu and... it was not fun... again... **SORRY**! =(_

 _I will be trying to return to regular update intervals asap, so keep a look out. Missed you all terribly and hope you can forgive me!_

 _Really glad you all enjoyed last chapter and I hope this one was good too. Let me know! I am planning on posting the next one asap, so keep an eye out. Sorry that the chapters got a bit mixed up. Looks like I accidentally uploaded the wrong chapter when I was updating something. Sorry!_

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	38. XXXVIII Penelope

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* * *

 **Penelope's POV**

"I know you came for _her_."

My heart stopped.

Every ounce of anger and hate instantly drained from my body. It felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head; every inch of me was cold.

I held my breath as I watched Hades work. He formed a ball of golden fire in his hands and he tossed it carelessly at my feet. It exploded on the steps, right in front of me.

And in the haze of glittering golden light was…

… My mother.

She was still frozen in the moment when the Minotaur was strangling the life out of her. The look of pain on her face was almost too much for me to look at.

I tried to speak, but it felt like someone was choking me. I couldn't find my voice.

My hand automatically reached out and tried to touch her, but the bright light made my skin feel like it was boiling.

Hades wore a smug smile as he watched me snatch back my hand and gingerly rub my palm.

"Yes," Hades said with satisfaction and a little bit of glee, "I knew you would come to bargain with me eventually, Penelope Jackson. So I took your dear mother and kept her safely tucked away until I needed her."

There were still no useful thoughts in my brain as I stared at my mom. Was she alive or dead? Did her expression reflect actual pain that she was having to constantly endure, even while frozen? Could she see me; did she know I was here?

""If you return my helm of darkness, I might be persuaded to _release_ your dear mother," the God of the dead straightened the sleeves of his robe and brushed off some nonexistent dust from his arm, "Sally Jackson isn't dead, you know. Not yet at least. I snatched her away from the Minotaur moments before her lifeline was cut. But if you refuse my request… if you displease me in _any_ way… your mother's condition could change rather quickly."

" _Run Penny…"_

I blinked back angry tears as heat began to spread across my face again. My mother's voice echoed in my head as I stood there looking between my mother and the God of the Underworld. I felt my fingers close around the little plastic BIC pen in my pocket.

" _No…"_

Mom's voice sounded strained, like she was still being strangled as she spoke to me. My grip loosened on Riptide and I remembered the pearls that the water spirit had given me.

Hades's chuckling pulled me from my private thoughts, "Ah yes… the pearls. My brother does enjoy his little tricks. Let me see them all."

My hand jerked away from me and plunged back into my pocket. It moved against my will and withdrew the small milky white pearl. I glanced around and noticed that Will, Grover and Alec must have experienced similar loss of control; they each held out their perfectly round pearls as well.

"Only four, I see," Hades said in a fake sorrowful tone, "what a shame… Did my brother even bother telling you that each pearl can only protect a single person?"

I felt the frustrated anger continue to spread down my neck. The air around me steamed slightly.

"If you intend to save your mother, you will have to leave one of your little friends behind. Which of these brave souls will be the lucky one, hmm?" The god of the underworld looked greedily between the boys beside me.

And before I could spit an insult back at him, or deflect his comment at all; my friends began to volunteer.

"Leave me here…"

"Use my pearl for your mom, PJ…"

"No, take mine…"

I looked at Alec, Will and Grover; I felt completely defeated, "We were tricked… we were set up."

Alexander took my hand and forced his pearl into my palm.

"No," Grover shook his head, "I'm a satyr, we don't have souls. It would be better if you left me behind. He can torture me all he wants, but when I die he won't get to keep me. I'll be reincarnated as a flower... or a tree maybe."

My keeper tried to look brave, but I could see the fear in his eyes.

Alec closed my fingers around his pearl and drew his bronze dagger, "No Grover, you have to protect PJ. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. You and Will get Penelope and her mom back to New York safely. I'll stay here and hold him off."

I stood there in shock as Alec's words sunk in. I didn't even notice that he had used my full name.

"No way you're doing this alone Alec," Will twirled his bronze arrow around until it extended into a full size bow. He took a step in front of Grover and I, "You two get out of here with your Mom, PJ. We'll keep him occupied so you can get away with the bolt. You have to take it back to Olympus."

I shook my head, "Stop!"

I couldn't believe what was happening.

In the back of my mind, a line from the prophecy played back, ' _You shall be betrayed by one who makes your heart pique.'_

I originally thought that the oracle might have been warning me about my friends but… Grover had been my first feel friend. He had dive bombed Medusa. Alec had made friends with a three headed dog. Will had skunked a Goddess. We had all survived Furies, a water ride trap, a national monument and a casino that slowed down time. And now they each willing to sacrifice themselves so that I could save my mom...

How could I have ever doubted these guys?

The next line of the prophecy came to my mind as well, ' _And, you shall not save a beloved soul that you unknowingly seek.'_

I looked at my mom. She appeared to be in so much pain. But I knew exactly what she would say to me, " _...run, Penny."_

"No; I know what to do," my voice sounded hollow as I spoke. I gave Alexander back his pearl and made sure that Will and Grover had theirs as well.

"But PJ…" Alec's voice trailed off as I glanced at him. I think he saw how much it was hurting me to do what needed to be done.

I faced my mother again. I wanted so much to just smash my pearl at her feet and send her far away from this horrible place, but I knew that I couldn't do that. I was the one who needed to carry the Master Bolt back to Olympus. I needed to explain to Zeus what really happened. And my Mom would never forgive me if I saved her instead.

"I'm so sorry, Mom…" My held my fist so tightly that it was starting to hurt. The coolness of the pearl felt strange in my now hot hand, "I'll find some other way to save you. I'll come back; I promise."

Hades's look of cockiness faded, "Godling…?"

I made sure to wear an expression of stern reassurance, "I will find your helm, Uncle. I'll return it to you as soon as I can. And don't forget about Charon's raise."

"Do _not_ defy me little half-blood..." The God of the Dead's lip began to curl back.

"And you should play with Cerberus more. He's lonely... he really likes red rubber balls."

His lip started to shake with rage, "Penelope Jackson, you will not…"

"Now!"

We all immediately smashed the perfect little pearls at our own feet. For a split second, I was worried that they weren't going to work.

But just as the army of skeletons took a step toward us, their weapons aimed and ready… The Kindly Ones spread their leathery wings and their whips burst into flame…

A huge burst of green light exploded from the fragments of the pearls. I smelled a salty breeze kick up as I was wrapped in a milky white bubble and started to float off the ground. I could still see vague shapes through the hazy shield; I saw Will, Grover and Alec all encased in similar spheres. And it looked like the bullets from the skeleton warriors were simply bouncing off of us.

All four of us were floating up toward the ceiling, "Wait… we're going to crash!"

"How do you control these things, PJ?" Grover's muffled voice asked.

"I… I don't think we do."

We were all floating right up into several stalactites that lined the ceiling of Hades's throne room. We were going to pop and fall to our deaths…

Hades creamed with rage as we floated closer to his pointy roof. I imagined Los Angeles was going to experience quite a few earthquakes because of me tonight.

And just as we were about to slam into the ceiling and meet our end…

...Darkness.

I thought we were dead at first. I couldn't make out anything around me anymore. No shapes, no light, no noise at all. But I could still feel the bubble moving… and it was picking up speed as it continued to move upward. I sent a quick plea to my Dad, asking him to make sure that the others were moving along with me. Just as I finished muttering to myself, the sphere broke through the ocean floor and I should see the outline of three other bubbles. ' _...what belongs to the sea will always return to the sea…'_

We all raced toward the surface together.

It was really strange to not feel an ounce of pressure as we zoomed up. I hoped that it wasn't just a happy side-effect from being the daughter of the Sea God and that the bubbles were doing it… but I was unfortunately wrong.

The spheres seemed to _help_ , but when they exploded and released us at the surface, the guys looked kind of wrecked. I quickly got the three of them to a nearby life buoy and shooed away a great white shark that I just didn't have time for. It took Alec, Will and Grover a few minutes to catch their breaths.

I easily floated right next to the buoy and looked over at the shore.

… the sun was rising.

I'm not entirely sure how, but I knew it was June 21st.

Time was up; today was the summer solstice.

And as the sun rose higher, I realized that the city buildings weren't just reflecting the light.

Los Angeles was on _fire_.

Huge columns of smoke rose up from the skyline in almost every neighborhood. Red and blue siren lights lit up everywhere. There _had_ been a huge earthquake… and it was kind of my fault. Hades was probably readying a huge army of the dead to come after me now… which meant things were only going to get _worse_.

But even with that, the Underworld still wasn't at the top of my worry list.

I had to get to Olympus; I had to give the Master Bolt back to Zeus. And even more than that…

… I needed to have a serious conversation with the god who had set me up.

* * *

 _Eeek! SO close to the epic fight... Can't wait to share that with you all._

 _Let me know what you thought about this chapter though while I get to editing the next chapter._

 _*** Your reviews are so wonderful and always welcomed...  
_

 _Always,_

 _Misha_

 _Ps. Check out my other stories: ' The Bookworm and The Prankster,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'_


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